The Cry of the Chosen

I would call these lyrics the Cry of the Chosen- they are from Lifehouse’s Storm. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Many are called, but fewer are chosen. What do these statements mean? Sometimes I think about different ways I could present the love of Jesus or what it means that He is the Savior and the Living Water, and I just find it hard to breathe. It’s an impossible feat, and impossible task, to explain the reviving of the Soul that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit of our God. It is HIS good pleasure to love me that allures me; nothing of my own do I bring. There was a time that life was about normal things, good things, things that everyone admittedly or, at least secretly, desires, marriage, family, happiness, something to delight my soul. Normal things have no appeal to me anymore if they are presented outside of the will of my Lord and Savior for me, HIS servant. It is not that he is My ‘god’ so much as that ‘i’ and HIS servant. I talked to Dad today, and he shared his latest dilemma in life after he caught me up on the status of all the other family drama. I found myself thinking, ‘we will always have decisions. We will always have something over which we can worry and stress. Today, I have no idea the concerns that will come to me when I am 62 years old. When I am 62 years old, the things that could addle me today will seem extremely trivial.”

There are many Christians out there who seemingly live simple, uncomplicated, and ‘neat’ lives. Homes are clean. Children are orderly. The ‘things’ that are supposed to happen in our lives as we progress from children to adults all happen in the right and specified order. I once believed a lie that if my life was like that, it meant I was rewarded for pleasing God. Then I spent some time believing that if my life were like that, I was really not even an actual Christian. Then, I spent some time confused and torn between desires and what I thought was godly, self-denial vs. extreme aestheticism….and then I found myself in this storm…at some point during the storm, this was my cry…at some point in the storm, I got lost into His eyes…and I knew everything would be alright. At some point, I fell in love with Jesus…perhaps for the first time…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-OJWINPpE

"How long have I been in this storm, so overwhelmed by the ocean’s shapeless form. Waters harder to getting harder to tread with these waves crashing over my head. If I could just see you, everything would be alright. If I’d see you, this darkness would turn to light. And I will walk on water. And you will catch me if I fall. And I will get lost into your eyes; I know everything will be alright. I know everything is alright.

I know you didn’t bring me out here to drown. So why am I 10 feet under and upside down? Barely surviving has become my purpose. Cause I’m so used to living underneath the surface. If I could just see you, everything would be alright. If I’d see you, this darkness would turn to light. And I will walk on water. And You will catch me if I fall. And I will get lost into your eyes; I know everything will be alright."

The cry…the cry of the chosen. I firmly believe it is impossible to love Jesus unless one has suffered. Scripture tells us that we cannot expect to participate in His resurrection unless we first participate in His death. You cannot, however, choose what ‘His death’ will be in your life. It’s HIS death, remember? I, also, cannot measure whether or not a person has suffered the death of Christ in his/her own mortal flesh. That is something to which only the actual person can attest, something to which only Jesus Christ can verify. Are you covered in the blood of Christ? Perhaps you are, but have you truly been through the fire and death of self at Christ’s call…at Christ’s time….in Christ’s way…for you, HIS servant?

We will always have decisions. We will always have something that can worry us. There is nothing new under the sun. Satan has no new tricks. Life is incredibly repetitive. Many people can expend all their strength creating their lives, making their lives, exactly as they desire them. I hope that makes them happy someday; unfortunately, I do not believe it ever will. And even if it does, what is left after this life? I’d rather prepare for eternity by getting to know my Savior now even if it costs me things I think I may desire.

Life is not found, living water is not found, peace is not found in OVERCOMING trials or MAKING decisions or FIGURING things out. Life, living water, peace, joy, patience, love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, Jesus….they are all found IN the trial, in the DECISION making process in the pain of FIGURING and toiling. There is where we see the hand of our father…in the storm. The water doesn’t matter much if we can walk on it, and walking on it doesn’t come from practice or perfection … it comes through seeing Jesus, knowing the character of God, and not letting that fail. Come what may, I will follow. For who else has the words of life my Lord?

I close with other Lifehouse lyrics. A friend emailed me recently and said that she was just realizing that she had struggled with self-esteem issues her whole life but NEVER knew it until now. Now she’s got baggage from 25 years to go through, and the process seems overwhelming and daunting. How can she handle it? She cannot, but Jesus can, and Jesus will. Thus, the lyrics…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxOGN4HGXB8

“Chasing fireflies, elusive dreams; this pre-life crisis is killing me. The beautiful tragedy that who I was wasn’t me. You make it easier to be, easier to be me well it’s hard to believe you make it easy. It felt like the words fell from my feet. I gave up on myself; You didn’t give up on me. I let myself go; You were still there. You’re like coming home, coming up for air.”

I can easily speak these words today. I chased, for a long time, elusive dreams, the dreams that needed to be attained for ‘life’ to start; thus, the crisis in which I found myself as I repeatedly saw my dreams unmet was a ‘pre-life’ crisis. Who I was, was not me. I didn’t know me. I hadn’t met myself yet because I hadn’t met my Savior yet. He never gave up on me though. He never let me go. And when I finally saw Him, when He finally let my eyes become opened enough to see through the storm and see Him, it was like coming up for air. That air has sustained me since, one glimpse of Jesus…one tiny seeing in the glass dimly, and I could walk on the water. Now the greatest pain in my life is that I cannot adequately express my love to Him or explain His glory to you all. Praise God that event he mountains and rocks and hills declare. I pray we may all have opened eyes. I pray I find breath as I try to write about Jesus’ love, Jesus’ mercy, Jesus’ grace…

I will get lost into Your eyes Jesus…I know everything will be alright. My God, take my life…this life that is Yours. This is my cry…the cry of one chosen by You, undeserving, but having been the object of mercy.

Amen.