He Loves Me

"How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand—

when I awake, I am still with you."

Psalm 139: 17-18

These words and their meaning overtake me as they roll over in my spirit. As I was out running errands this morning, I was still basking in the glow of an unexpected visitation from my dearest Friend. He had come to me while I was working at my computer. I found myself just sitting here, soaking in an unplanned dousing of His presence.

Later as I sat behind the wheel of my car, He came to me again, as if to say, "I'm not finished with you yet."

In the middle of my crazy busy-ness and determination to mark yet another item off my To-Do List, here is what I heard, "I am so in love with you. You are so beautiful to Me."

Naturally I immediately responded with wordless tears. "I have always loved you. I love watching you. I love the way you belong to Me."

One of the many thoughts that flooded my heart in the nano-seconds that followed was that He always knows exactly what to say - what I need to hear. In a way that only the most attentive Lover ever could, He once again captured my attention and my heart in one moment.

This year has been for me anything but routine. After seven and-a-half years in Arkansas working with an amazing team of people building an outreach church, my husband and I yielded to the undeniable leading of the Lord that it was time for us to return to Austin. David came in January to find work while I stayed in Fort Smith, continuing to work and wrap things up both at my job and the church. At the end of March, I left Fort Smith for Austin.

That was only the beginning of what has developed into one of the most unusual years of my life, but that is a story for another time. One of the many things I have come to understand and embrace on a much deeper level than before is that God is not interested in adhering to routine. Everything about my life this year has been such a departure from normalcy that the comment I most often hear from people is, "I don't know how you do it."

Well, neither do I. Because none of it makes any sense. God will use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and what seems to be the most ridiculous course of action is sometimes the only one that will get you where you are going. People used to tell me I was an "outside-the-box thinker." I no longer think outside the box. I live there. The box, if it ever really existed, is just a tiny spec on the horizon in my rear-view mirror.

And through it all, quietly providing a solid foundation on which I can place my trust, is this crazy peace that has come to be a familiar friend. It's the peace that passes understanding, that defies logic and stands as a silent centurion protecting my heart from the sure despair that would overtake me if not for the undeniable presence of the Comforter in every moment.

So here I am, experiencing once again a sense of wonder that in all the crazy, mixed-up stuff that is my life, Someone is thinking of me constantly. He watches me, not waiting for me to mess up, but smitten by the look on my face when He enters the room. The love in His eyes is for me. And no matter how far I step away from "normal," He is still here, walking with me and leading me into Himself.

And tomorrow morning, when I wake up, He will still be here.



A Timeless Message

A friend posted a video this evening on Facebook. It is a YouTube video of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, along with over 650 other singers from 28 participating organizations, descended on a Macy's store in Center City Philadelphia. Their purpose was to surprise the unsuspecting shoppers with a Random Act of Culture. The event took place just a few days ago, on October 30, 2010.

Scattered throughout the unwitting crowd were randomly placed individuals who, when given their cue, burst into a full rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. As I watched and listened to this mass choir sing one of the greatest and most inspired choral pieces of all time, something began to emerge in my spirit - a realization of what I was witnessing as being a picture of what the Church is to be in world.

This was a secular group on a secular mission, but what transpired was a public declaration of who Jesus is and His ultimate dominion over the kingdoms of this world - His eternal reign as King of Kings.

Here is what I saw:

1. Hundreds of individuals from dozens of organzations coming together for a common purpose.

2. A multi-generational, multi-cultural ensemble of voices singing the praises of our Eternal King.

3. These individuals are not all dressed alike and standing together as a group, thus separating themselves from those they are singing for. They are dressed like everyone else, scattered throughout the crowd. Until they started singing, they appeared to be just shoppers.
4. Each individual sings his/her part from wherever they are standing, with faces upturned and eyes fixed on the conductor, who is standing on an upper level.

5. When the shoppers realize what is happening, they stop what they are doing and engage in the process. They smile. They laugh. They break out cameras and video cameras and phones to capture the moment. They sing along.  They sway to the music. You will even see one woman with a camera in hand and the other hand lifted in worship as she was unable to stand still.

How profound a challenge this is to the Body of Christ - to unite under one banner and take the message of Jesus to the public forum in a bold and beautiful display of a multi-generational, multi-cultured declaration of who Jesus is! I promise you - when the Church begins to take this kind of a unified approach to getting the message of Jesus into the marketplace, the schools, the businesses and other public arenas, the world WILL SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE!

George Frideric Handel was a child prodigy who began composing operas at a very young age. By the time he was in his twenties, he was the best paid composer in the world. Over time, however, as his music came to be regarded as old-fashioned, and he was unable to sell anything. He endured bankruptcy, depression, a stroke and a palsy that crippled his fingers.

In August 1741, Handel began to compose the music for a libretto given to him by a friend, a collection of works about the life of Christ. Inspired by the words, "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people" from Isaiah 40, Handel had agreed to the project. Less than a month later, the entire work of The Messiah was complete.

The lyrics to the Hallelujah Chorus are few, but their message is profound:

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

The kingdom of this world

Is become the Kingdom of our Lord

And of His Christ, and of His Christ

And He shall reign forever and ever!

King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Forever and ever!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!



The fact that this masterpiece was written by a man whose career was essentially over in the eyes of the world around him is a message for another time. God can and will use the most unlikely among us to accomplish His purposes. He always has and He always will. It's what He does best.

So here, for your watching and listening enjoyment, is the Opera Company of Philadelphia and over 650 of their friends, singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" in a Macy's store. May we, the Church, receive inspiration from this to unite under the watchdul eye and graceful movements of our Conductor as we unite together to bring the music from the heart of heaven itself outside the walls of the church and into the streets.

Selah.

(Be sure to pause the music player on the left side of this page before starting the video.)