There are a few worship songs lately that I feel are, at best, lacking context…and at worst, misleading people. Songs that conflate what God does with Who He is. Songs that, to my hearing, present God as more of some sort of genie in a bottle than as One who is innately worthy of praise, regardless of what He does or does not choose to do. After all, what’s a person to think, then, when there’s no miracle, no answer, no tangible calm in the midst of a storm? Who is God to them, then? Hopefully, still all the things that fail to appear in some of these immensely popular songs – He is holy, just, good, sovereign, eternal, omniscient, loving, and perfect. But, I worry, that a lot of professed Christians don’t have that full picture of our Father.
Yeah, it gets under my skin. So, I tend to not sing those songs…or I make up my own words…and I get frustrated by worship song writers who aim for the feel-good lyrics instead of the foundation-strengthening variety.
But here’s the thing. While those lyrics that make me grit my teeth every time I hear them aren’t ALWAYS the experience of every Christian, they sometimes are. I can’t deny that God IS in the “business” of miracles. He is gracious and compassionate and He delights in doing good to His children.
Honestly, though? I don’t like to be reminded of those things. I’ve found this Christian walk to be easier if I just conclude God is not going to show up in my circumstances. I still believe He CAN…but, generally speaking, have convinced myself that He won’t . No disappointment then, right? Better to assume the trials, the wilderness, the silence are all some sort of refining process than to wonder why God shows up for other people and not me, not us.
I’m tired of trying to believe when I can’t see. I’m weary of persisting in prayer. I prefer not to hope, or so I tell myself. Until some small corner of my heart leaps with…joy?…at the recognition that the God I know might just want to show up in my life…but that maybe, He wants me to believe He will, first.