Kumbaya and other Jesus music…

It
happens way too often. We have this
mountaintop experience with God where the goosebumps are ever present, those of
us that can’t sing are belting out songs of praise, and even the conservative
ones are lifting their hands. So what’s
the problem? Unfortunately, like Moses
we are called to walk back down the mountain and into the valley to try and “explain”
what just happened. Oftentimes we reenter
the valley with our faces still glowing and the goosebumps just settling to
find out that the rest of the world hasn’t stopped and Satan is still working
just as hard.

I
was given a vision the last night at training (I don’t like to call it camp,
because it was so much more than activity classes and pool parties and kumbaya). In this vision I saw an aerial view of the US
and I saw this huge light in North Georgia which is where we were. I saw the light begin to split off and go to
Texas, Ohio, Maryland, California, and all the other states that were
represented in the room and I was excited that we were this light that was
going out to a world that sometimes forgets we don’t have to live in
darkness. I was in a rush to share it
with my team as a source of challenge and encouragement, and I haven’t really
even thought about it since. At least
not until today.

A
teammate of mine, Taylor Griffith who is a very talented songwriter, wrote a
song the other day that I thought was beautiful. It’s called “I’m Not OK, But That’s OK.” I listened to it and loved it, but felt like I needed to hear it again
today. It’s a song of lament and crying
out to God, asking where He is.  As I
listened, this same image from training came to mind and I was excited to see
it again, but I never realized that it was meant to continue. As I watched the lights spread out, I noticed
they began to flicker. This was at the
same time in the song where Taylor was crying out “where is my prosperity?” and I realized that is why the lights were
flickering and fading.

Immediately,
the thought came to mind, why am I so prideful that I would think this vision
was just about my team? It happens DAILY
when people leave that mountaintop experience and head back to the valley. We ultimately think we’re alone and we stop
thinking about the work of God on the mountain, and we get caught up in the
work Satan has been doing in the valley. Can God still be powerful in the valley?  Is that really even a question?  Of course!  We just tend to use our free will to shut Him
out.

I
tried to think of a way to combat this, but I drew a blank.  I started listening to the words again and
this time they said, “If you don’t save
me, that’s OK.”  There are stories
all over the world of God doing miracles, so we think that in order for God to
be around and our faith to exist, there has to be miracles.  Jeremiah wrote an entire book of laments,
Isaiah rarely saw any fruit from his ministry, several of David’s pslams were
spent crying out for God to show Himself, and not to mention that several of
the disciples were killed for their stance.  So where was their faith? 

The
truth is that faith doesn’t always present immediate results.  Does that make God any less powerful or present?  Does our faith then become any weaker or jaded?  The answer to the first is a resounding NO!  The second sounds like more of a personal choice.  However, in the words of Joshua, as for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord.   That
has to be something to claim DAILY,
because everyday isn’t easy.