Songs have always been a deeply personal form of prayer for me. There is something about singing to God or about God that opens a part of me that written or spoken words don’t do. Many times I get completely lost in a song when it suddenly becomes a two way path of communication.
Music has always been a direct line into the deepest parts of me. When a song or a lyric connect with me, there are moments when God’s voice inside me is louder and clearer than at any other time of prayer or study.
Recently, there has been an influx of songs about the unstoppable, unrelenting, passionate love God has for us. Turn on the radio and you’ll hear a dozen or more tunes along these lines. Many of them have become anthems during the song portion of our weekly services. Songs like “Reckless Love” and “How He Loves” make regular appearances on our set lists, for good reason! As Christ Followers, we have seen and experienced the power of God’s love that was demonstrated by Jesus’s life, death, burial, and resurrection. We sing these songs out of a genuine heart of praise, and I would never, ever want to take anything from that.
We SHOULD praise Him and verbally recount the way His love has impacted us. Psalm 107:2a commands “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…”
But while in the midst of singing about His amazing love one Sunday morning, God began to shift my thoughts.
The songs we sing are great reminders of the lengths He was willing to go to bring us into a relationship with Him. They are a testimony of the things He brought us out of, and of the way He sustains us through our darkest times. We tend to appropriate those memories for personal use only. We treasure them in our hearts. We store them up and use them to get us through our next hard time. Rightfully so!
But God spoke loudly in my spirit one Sunday, and I nearly missed my cue to lead a song, and He hasn’t stopped speaking since.
It started with the first line of “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury.
Before I spoke a word, you were singing over me.
As I sang the line, I was reminded of Zephaniah 3:17 – “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Then, the next verse of the song took me to Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me.
Then, the chorus repeated over and over…
He chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine.
I was staring out at the congregation when God absolutely shouted in my spirit, “These are the 99 I am willing to leave to find the one.”
I kept singing, but the whole time, I was listening to God speak to me about how our motive for singing these songs has to shift. Not to dismiss the praise for what He’s done for us – but to INCLUDE the reality that what He we are praising Him for doing for us is what He doing RIGHT NOW for those who don’t yet know Him.
Before we knew we needed Him to forgive us, He was singing over us with love and joy!
While we were ignorant, resisting and defying Him, He did what was necessary to provide a way for us to get to Him!
He left those who were ‘safe’ (the 99!) and chased us down. He refused to give up on us! He fought, and still fights, on our behalf.
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up…
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down…
I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for all the shadows, mountains, walls, and lies God cleared away, enabling me to know Him, but more than that, I was broken by how easy it is to forget He is doing the same for the people who are where I used to be – where every Christ Follower used to be!
I thought of the ways that churches have built walls out of their convictions and kingdoms based on their preferences and my heart broke! Why do we find it easy to celebrate the love God showed us, and just as easily, we proclaim the judgement of God on those who don’t know Him…yet?
The song “Unstoppable Love” by Kim Walker-Smith has been on repeat for days.
Try to stop Your love, and You would wage a war
Try to take the very thing You gave Your life for
And You would come running
Tear down every wall
All the while shouting
“My love, You’re worth it all!”
Personally, I don’t want God to wage war against me for building a wall that stops His love from getting to the ones He gave His life for. Do you?