Lyrics & God

Ever have one of those moments when song lyrics just rise to the surface of your brain, not necessarily related to anything that you are thinking about (in a direct line, anyway), but eerily apt?

Here's what just popped into mine. From "To Know You," by Nichole Nordeman (who is far and away my favorite Christian singer--saw her at Women of Faith and fell in love from the first chords of "Is It Any Wonder"):

"It's well past midnight
And I'm awake with questions
That won't wait for daylight
Separating fact from my imaginary fiction
On this shelf of my conviction..."

Sometimes I think that these ghost lyrics (as I refer to them in my head) are messages from God. The last one I got was also Nichole Nordeman, "Please Come:"

Oh the days when I drew lines around my faith
To keep You out, to keep me in, to keep it safe.
Oh the sense of my own self-entitlement
To say who’s wrong, who won’t belong, or cannot stay.

'Cause somebody somewhere decided
We’d be better off divided.
And somehow, despite the damage done,
He says come:

CHORUS:
There is room enough for all of us, please come
And the arms are open wide enough, please come
And our parts are never greater than the sum
This is the heart of the One
Who stands before the open door and bids us come.

Oh the times when I have failed to recognize
How many chairs are gathered there around the feast.
To break the bread and break these boundaries
That have kept us from our only common ground,
The invitation to sit down, if we will come:

CHORUS

Come from the best of humanity
Come from the depths of depravity
Come now and see how we need every
different bead on this same string.
Come.

CHORUS

And you'd better believe that I was in church that Sunday. I spend so much time trying to figure out how to hear the quiet voice of God when He speaks to me, if I even *think* I might be hearing Him, I listen. mk

*****
speaking of listening, if you haven't heard any of Nichole's work, you really need to. She is amazing. Truly truly wonderful. It is so refreshing to me to hear Christian music that praises as well as addresses the honest struggles with faith that I believe so many of us have, yet are afraid to admit. Like doubt. And hypocrisy. And judgment. And did I mention doubt?