Saturday, March 15, 2014

Story cred to my sister because I forgot how good God was for a second

When I was a little kid growing up in church, we always had "song time" after the service and before Sunday School. I used to see them as cheesy, stereotypical Sunday School songs that everyone who went to VBS had probably heard (and memorized) at least once in their life. But looking back now I realize that there was a lot of truth in them. As simple, and catchy as all get-out, as they were they contained immense knowledge that I still carry with me today. For example...
Molly and I spent the day together on Tuesday. It was a beautiful, sunny with a high of 45 and she had the day off from work. On our way to her eye appointment we were just goofing off and she started singing "This is the day that the Lord has made" in this crazy voice. (If you don't know it, these are the words to it at least: "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it," and it's at this point where, for some reason, the singer realizes the key is impossibly high, so as a little kid the only way to reach it was to scream it as loud as possible, "FOR THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE." This is the part that she chose to sing.)
So we had a good laugh and started talking about something else, as all conversations usually go, putting this moment of hilarity behind us.
Well, all-in-all it ended up being a pretty stinky day and by 9 PM we were both tired and emotional and felt like the day was a waste. At dinner, Molly said something about how the day felt pointless and after a moment of silence that song just popped into my head, and I started singing "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Let the record show that I had completely forgotten that that very same song had ever come out of Molly's mouth, and that there was no prompting for me to start singing this song. I didn't even want to be singing it. I, in no way, felt at all that the day should be rejoiced in.
But that just made it all the more powerful.
Regardless of whether or not I subconsciously remembered our moment from earlier in the day, we were both struck dumb by how God used that simple song to remind us of hope. Even though it might not have been our ideal day, it was a day to be alive, to trust Jesus and to love Jesus, and to rejoice in a life-giving God who does not abandon his people. And though I might not have hope in worldly things, I have hope in life through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 118:21-24
I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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