Philippians 4:8-9
Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if
anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
As I sat in the B747 with no personal entertainment, I thought to myself that the 2.5 hours flight heading back would be a nightmare because all I had was a small overhead TV above to entertain me. Worst still, it wasn't going to be showing a movie, but a live concert event of Adele in the Royal Albert hall. After a while of being overly bored, I finally decided to plug in my headphones to hear what the show was all about and boy was it a moment for me to be ministered.
Many years ago, a friend told me how God had used a TV show that he was watching speak to him and as he spent his quiet time after TV, the events of what he saw became analogies of lessons that God used to talk to him.
So what did Adele sing that hit a nerve in me? "Chasing pavements". That to me was one of the dumbest titles for a song, and I was just wondering what on earth could inspire someone to write something as mundane as chasing a pavement. But when the song lyrics "should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements, even if it leads nowhere" repeated itself, I realised that I had a choice in life but I was refusing to acknowledge it.
Somewhere in the depths of me, I'm prepare to give up doing what I have been doing all my life because when your heart breaks, your faith falters, and life seems to be plagued with problems, you feel overwhelmed as if you are just pointlessly chasing pavements that lead nowhere or have no purpose.
When our emotions get the better of us, and we navigate through life via what we feel, everything about what we see and do is unstable. But faith is not about what we feel, it is about how we focus on the surety of God's truth. This is not positive thinking, neither is it some mind-over-matter new age theory. Faith is when we allow our mind to hang on to the things of God and whatever limited encounters/promises we had with the holy spirit.
If, I allow my feelings to rule my life, I'll throw in the towel, walk away from who I've invested in to-date and elect to abandon my life's calling. But, if I think about what God has promised me, and the call of His for me to respond to, I'll never give up because He will never either.
Along the journey home, God ended the encounter with me with a final Adele song despite its secular nature. Ignore Adele's inspiration or who this is written for. For all it's worth to me, God used the lyrics of the song to remind me of His love, a love that made Him send His one and only son for me and you.
When the rain Is blowing in your face
And the whole world Is on your case
I could offer you A warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no - one there To dry your tears
I could hold you For a million years
To make you feel my love
I know you Haven't made Your mind up yet
But I would never Do you wrong
I've known it From the moment That we met
No doubt in my mind Where you belong
I'd go hungry,
I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling Down the avenue
Know there's nothing That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing Like me yet
I could make you happy Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love, To make you feel my love
Thank you God.
M.
