The Same God
The same God who makes the seasons change, is the same God who loves you and me.
At times, God uses a song to overwhelm my senses and to tie together the often scattered pieces of my life. In those magical moments, His radiant light shines into the deepest recesses of my being, not only giving me hope, courage, and new strength, but also reminding me that the great God of all time, space, and eternity, loves a simple sinner, such as me.
On Saturday morning, just before 8am, as I was driving near the mileground in Morgantown, West Virginia, I heard Hannah Kerr’s new song, Same God. Although I had already been up, since a little after 5am, it was hearing this super song that tied together the pieces of my soul bringing new meaning to this incredible moment. (To find this amazing song, simply go to youtube, and type in - Same God Hannah Kerr.)
I was already taking in the breathtaking wonders of a heaven-sent historic day that included Rachel's graduation from WVU, our 34th wedding anniversary, while we were all actually in the town where Sunny and I came to know Jesus, met, graduated from college, married, and had our first child.
Oh how awesome and incredible, you are, O God, and how infrequently do I ponder the vastness of your love. However, there you are, pursuing me, just outside the edges of my comprehension, you are ready and willing to come to my aid, if I would just ask.
Throughout the ages, philosophers have at times criticized those of us who believe in the love and daily intervention of God, as those unable to withstand the rigors of this life on our own living in need of a celestial crutch. To quote one such confused thinker, Karl Marx, the ‘father’ of socialism and communism who stated, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.” Really?
Stating that I’m in need of a crutch isn’t a good word picture, because it not only understates the impact of God in my life, but it belies the mistaken idea that I can get anywhere in life without God. I cannot. I’m not in need of a crutch; I am in desperate need of a savior. A Savior who can save me from my sins, a savior who can restore my relationship with God, and a savior who can give me a new start in life and make me a new person. No, I don’t need a crutch Karl, and I don’t need just any savior, I need Jesus.
To take on Marx, Jesus was not only the greatest liberator the world has ever known, but the one who broke the power of sin and death, who holds the keys to eternity, and has brought, and continues to bring, the greatest hope, to those living under countless forms of oppression, the result of failed human systems, and supernatural forces who have opposed the good of humanity throughout history.
Back to the song, in the past few months, I’ve been living through an intense and exciting time in my profession in the field of educational student travel, and this special day at WVU was a much needed respite for my soul.
In her song, Hannah Kerr captures the amazing wonder that it is to know the God of the Universe. The same God who ‘knows the number of the stars,’ that God, the powerful awesome, and indescribable God, that God, ‘tells the tide when it should rise, put the color in my eyes.’ That same God - that one, that same God, deeply and overwhelmingly loves you and me.
Dear brother or sister in Christ, or friend along life’s journey, as you start a new week, with both opportunities and difficulties ahead, if there is a song that inspires you in your pursuit of God, give it a play this morning to start your week on solid footing. And if you haven’t done so yet, listen to this new song by Hannah Kerr, and smile along with me knowing that the same God, who makes the seasons change, is the same God who loves you and me.