This song resonates with my spirit so deeply; as does the old hymn "What 'Er My God Ordains Is Right". Have you ever heard it? "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" (original German language) was written in 1676 by Samuel Rodigast for his friend Gastorius who'd become seriously ill; Gastorius later recovered and wrote the melody to put his dear friend's penned words to music.
To this day, I desire a friend like that... you know... the kind that writes for you :)
I suppose there are a couple of reasons these songs feel so right, so real to my soul. It seems a bit deep to put into words but if you have a minute, stick around for my attempt at explaining.
Firstly, I've seen that so many in the Christian world believe only good/fun/exciting things happen to the ones God loves. It's like they believe that everything encountered is light, fun, and easy. Do you know anyone that seems to live under that falsehood? Maybe it's you; that person was me for a time in my early 20's. Through the years though, as I've grown in faith, the Holy Spirit has revealed a deeply necessary truth which completely eradicates that previously held falsehood. Today I know that it's in the difficult/painful/lonely things that we grow, become stronger in faith, and have a mindset that is more in line with our Savior. How can we exhibit Christ if we experience only easy & fun encounters? One rarely needs to dig deep into patience, long-suffering, hope, or God-like love while having fun. It's in the painful times that one really shows the incredible spiritual work that Christ has wrought in our hearts; and that work is so clearly seen when we move out of our humanistic response to pain/loss/fear and instead exhibit patience, long-suffering, hope, faith and agape.
Secondly, my own life experience causes the message in these songs to just echo in the most beautiful way through the corridors of my being. As mentioned above I truly believed, for a time in my early 20's, that because God loved me I would be sheltered and shielded from personally painful losses. Which led to the belief that if loss came my way, God would somehow keep it from hurting me (physically, emotionally or spiritually). As I write it now I'm sure remaining in that place would likely be recognized as classic denial, but I digress. So what moved me from that state of mind? Well, it started with my "Yes, I will marry you." I make a decision to commit in marriage to a man I truly loved and believed he loved me. Was I under the impression that he was or our marriage would be perfect? No, no, nope. However, I did believe (and a part of me still does) that love conquers all, and changes all. Twelve years later, after multiple betrayals that resulted in layers of damage (physically, emotionally) and hurt (spiritually) I was forced to evaluate the foundation on and from which I had operated all those years.
I still believe in love. Oh boy, do I ever! However, I no longer believe that God's love means that humanity is sheltered or shielded from hurtful, painful experiences. I rather believe that we're allowed (given the privilege) to experience specific hurts & pain because God knows that we must grow in whatever area that pain and hurt is triggering. Many people run away from the discomfort of loss/hurt/pain and not only do they run away, they hide from it in various vices (body building/implant surgeries, substance abuse, food abuse, promiscuous sex, relationship/friendship hopping, chasing career/money).
Maybe, just maybe... we can change our perspective on and view of pain/loss/hurt. I mean the outcomes would be incredible. Here are some things we might see in our lives:
1. Actually become strong individuals - not just appear physically strong,
2. Be satisfied for the long term - not just the short term,
3. Be incredibly rich on the inside - not just the outside,
4. Have deeply real-ationships - rather than 10,000 acquaintances,
5. Truly come to the likeness of Christ Jesus - rather than just considering Him at church time on weekends
What say you? I say yes, lets!
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