Monday, June 08, 2009

Tell me I'm forgiven and loved...

Jimmy Needham led worship at my church Sunday. He graduated from the same high school that Chance is attending. I didn't even know he was from Tomball! I've mentioned on twitter before how his lyrics to "Forgiven and Loved" struck me in a way, I'm sure he didn't intend. There is a line in that song that says, And my peace is almost past away. I have felt that since daddy died, my peace did pass away with him. I've had an incredibly hard time dealing with his death.

My pastor's series of sermons has been titled "Talking Donkeys" where we're exploring seemingly insignificant passages in the bible. This past Sunday we focused on 2 Kings 6. In a nut shell the sermon focused on how when the worker lost his ax head, he first had to admit that he needed help. There was a great illustration on how we lose our ax head and continue to strike the tree with just the handle, yet insist that there is nothing wrong, even though everyone around us can clearly see that there is.

The second key point is found in verse 6. Elisha asked the worker to show him exactly where the ax head was lost, "And the man of God said, Where fell it? and he shewed him the place." The lesson taught that when we lose something, we have to go back to the place where we first suffered the loss. That is where God is going to restore to us what is gone. It can be a physical place, or a place in our soul/heart/thinking.

Earlier in the week I was listening to the band The Listening. They have a EP called, The Rock&Roll Worship Circus is becoming The Listening. On that CD there is a song that's last line (is something like) "If you don't know where is you're going, you have to go back to where you started growing..."

So twice in one week I'm picking up on the theme of going back to where you started from if you've felt like your no longer growing or you have lost something.

Something I'll still ponder in the days ahead.