There is just something about music. God knows that and that's why He gives us the Psalms...songs once set to music that we read as poetry. Songs that reflect His heart and our human condition. When we are hurting, the Psalms are a good place to find solace. When we are elated, the Psalms give us words to praise Him for His goodness and mercy. When we feel alone, we gain comfort in the fact that we aren't the only ones to ever feel the emotions we are feeling. Music of every kind is essential for celebration, praise, comfort, drawing near to God and loved ones and expressing emotions of all kinds.
Some songs reach deep into our soul and resonate with our spirit in an almost mystical way. Through what I believe is divine inspiration, God finds creative ways to help us understand His heart, if we will have ears to hear.
The David Crowder song, How He Loves is one of those songs for me. It isn't a new song, it came out over a year ago, but it still gets me, every time I hear it.
Here is the the thing. The reason why I love this song so much is that it finally helped me to understand God's jealousy for me, for my heart and my complete devotion. His jealousy FOR me, not OF me {Oprah}, FOR me.You see, at the same time the song came out and I was listening to it often, I was going through a season of trying to seek security and comfort from something other than God himself. The more I forced my agenda, the less comfort and security I felt, the more and more difficult our circumstances became. His love was like a hurricane showing me that as long as I sought safety from anyone or anything else, I'd be discontent...even miserable. He loved me enough to allow my life to be uncomfortable as He wooed me back into His loving arms.
His jealousy is a righteous emotion, not the Jerry Springer kind of behavior we normally associate with jealousy.
It is similar to the feeling we get when someone is trying to attract our spouse's affection or lure our children into a lifestyle of destruction. If someone tries to steal my man and it looks like he is falling into their trap, you better believe I am gonna be jealous...not in a yelling or threatening way, but in a way that is going to set up boundaries in our life to protect our marriage, a way that is going to make it pretty darn uncomfortable for him to be tempted to stray.
If I sense my children being led astray, watch out, because I am jealous for their precious pure little lives and I will sure as heck not make it easy for them to fall into a trap that has been set to lead them on the wrong path. Sure they have free will, just like we all do, but I am going to make sure that if they step out of line it won't be comfortable for them. It is my extreme love for them that compels me to allow them to feel discomfort and even pain if it leads them back to the right path. And it is God's extreme unfailing love that compels Him to allow us to go through tough, uncomfortable and almost unbearable circumstances if it will lead us back to Him.
The great mysterious tension between God's sovereignty and our free will fascinates me. On one hand, I know we can choose to live our lives as we please, but on the other hand, when we are His children if we try to go it alone, His grace is nearly irresistible. The more we resist His path, the more lost, out of control and chaotic we feel. There is no peace. All other things that promise peace (friends, fiances, spouses, family, money, job security, a nice home, safe car, or storm shelter) fail to deliver if we are forcing our own agenda. Even when what He is calling us to do is scary, there is more peace walking in His will, than taking the 'safe' route...every time!
It took me a long time to grasp even a portion of how much God loves me, how jealous He is for my heart. I believe that once we give our lives to God, it's all over...we can try to go back to our old lives, old habits, old security blankets, but He's gonna do everything He can to remind us that we are not our own. We were bought for a price, adopted into His family and there is no emancipation or divorce in the divine family. It's for life, for all of eternity. We are His and He's not gonna give up on us without a fight. His kind of furious love is something we can never understand, but those of us who are parents can grasp a glimmer of it. Jealous Love...so beautiful.
Here is the the thing. The reason why I love this song so much is that it finally helped me to understand God's jealousy for me, for my heart and my complete devotion. His jealousy FOR me, not OF me {Oprah}, FOR me.You see, at the same time the song came out and I was listening to it often, I was going through a season of trying to seek security and comfort from something other than God himself. The more I forced my agenda, the less comfort and security I felt, the more and more difficult our circumstances became. His love was like a hurricane showing me that as long as I sought safety from anyone or anything else, I'd be discontent...even miserable. He loved me enough to allow my life to be uncomfortable as He wooed me back into His loving arms.
His jealousy is a righteous emotion, not the Jerry Springer kind of behavior we normally associate with jealousy.
It is similar to the feeling we get when someone is trying to attract our spouse's affection or lure our children into a lifestyle of destruction. If someone tries to steal my man and it looks like he is falling into their trap, you better believe I am gonna be jealous...not in a yelling or threatening way, but in a way that is going to set up boundaries in our life to protect our marriage, a way that is going to make it pretty darn uncomfortable for him to be tempted to stray.
If I sense my children being led astray, watch out, because I am jealous for their precious pure little lives and I will sure as heck not make it easy for them to fall into a trap that has been set to lead them on the wrong path. Sure they have free will, just like we all do, but I am going to make sure that if they step out of line it won't be comfortable for them. It is my extreme love for them that compels me to allow them to feel discomfort and even pain if it leads them back to the right path. And it is God's extreme unfailing love that compels Him to allow us to go through tough, uncomfortable and almost unbearable circumstances if it will lead us back to Him.
The great mysterious tension between God's sovereignty and our free will fascinates me. On one hand, I know we can choose to live our lives as we please, but on the other hand, when we are His children if we try to go it alone, His grace is nearly irresistible. The more we resist His path, the more lost, out of control and chaotic we feel. There is no peace. All other things that promise peace (friends, fiances, spouses, family, money, job security, a nice home, safe car, or storm shelter) fail to deliver if we are forcing our own agenda. Even when what He is calling us to do is scary, there is more peace walking in His will, than taking the 'safe' route...every time!
It took me a long time to grasp even a portion of how much God loves me, how jealous He is for my heart. I believe that once we give our lives to God, it's all over...we can try to go back to our old lives, old habits, old security blankets, but He's gonna do everything He can to remind us that we are not our own. We were bought for a price, adopted into His family and there is no emancipation or divorce in the divine family. It's for life, for all of eternity. We are His and He's not gonna give up on us without a fight. His kind of furious love is something we can never understand, but those of us who are parents can grasp a glimmer of it. Jealous Love...so beautiful.
He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
That He loves us...
