Wow. It is really hard to believe that I haven't written on this in over a year. Why? Because there were so many things to write about in the past year and three months. Maybe it was my busy-ness that kept me from it. Or maybe it was that I just wasn't thinking as profoundly as I ought to have been. Nevertheless, I am a big college Freshman now, so I decided it's time to regather my thoughts and collect them in one collaborative blog, worthy of many other thoughts and criticisms by its very few readers.
To kick off this new recollection of thoughts I begin with one of my favorite hymns:
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided-
Great is Thy faithfulness! Lord, unto me!
Great is Thy faithfulness.- Four of the most promising and declarative words in the English language. This hymn, written in 1923 by Thomas O. Chisholm and composed by William M. Runyan, is perhaps one of the greatest examples of excellence and hope through literature and musical composition. The text, based on Lamentations 3:22-23, declares that the Lord's faithfulness lasts throughout all layers of life and the difficulties it brings. Of course, I have a certain bias for the text since it is strongly what I believe and live for every day. But I have to think that everyone, at some point in another in life, wants to hear the words that someone is faithful to them day in and day out.
In my own walk of life, I have struggled and battled things I never would have dreamt possible. Yet, I have been blessed beyond measure by things that a lot of other people do not have, and possibly never will. What this text means to me is that I can rejoice in every situation merely for the fact that I know my God is faithful to me every single second. The problem is, I don't.
Let's take for example the line in the chorus: "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided."
Does this mean that every single thing I have needed from the moment I was made in my Mother's womb to the last breath I took just one second ago was necessary and provided for me by my Father in Heaven? Well of course the answer is yes. However, what I know God says I need and what I think I need are very separate and very secular things. My world now is a spinning cyclone of new people, new ideas, new places, new blessings, new struggles, and new things I can't even begin to describe. All of these new things have thrown off my "norm"-to say the least-and have forced me to cling to what I know and believe more than ever.
Maybe that's what Chisholm meant as he wrote the words to this glorious hymn. That no matter what area of life you are entering into, God is the same God through and through and will not change no matter how much the world around you is changing. His new mercies every morning, provided through His everlasting love and grace through His sacrifice on the Cross, will not move from their foundational love. I am encouraged that the man who wrote these words was also suffering through a difficult time in his life. I only seek to find those who are suffering through what I am so that we may share in our sufferings together.
Scripture is filled with promises and devotion from the Lord, but sometimes I can't help but feel a little lost from His sight. I am confident though that He is always right beside me, ready for me to reach for Him and His love. I can cling to Him every lonely morning, every long afternoon, and every stressful night. I can cling to Him in every bountiful step, every moment of laughter, every tear-filled sob, every song of delight, and every moment of complete silence. It is in each of these moments that I am clear in His sight and can claim Him as my own.
Great is my Father's faithfulness. He does not change, whether in love or compassion. He will stay this way, as He always has and always will. Great is my Father's faithfulness. Every day I am overwhelmed by His mercy. Every thing I need, He gives me. Great is His faithfulness to me.
Knowing all of this is to know God. Of this I am certain. No I am not fully righteous in His sight, yet I know that as I face obstacles and ask for Him to reveal His character to me then I can be made righteous. Self-sacrifice is being made easier as I am walking through this wreck of a life now, but I know I will reach the day when that will once again be extremely difficult. I have nothing else to give but myself though. With this I can praise Him with all of creation and rest in the glory of His fulfillment and peace.
Know that as I write this I am hoping to not only inform but to teach of what I have learned in the past two months alone. If God has shaped me in this way in only two months, then I can only begin to imagine how He can shape a person in two years. I am praying for my life and the lives of all those who believe to not be left as clanging cymbals, but as instruments fully in tune to His melody.
Great is the Lord's faithfulness. Of this we are made faithful to Him.
