The higher plane...

Rest for a moment in Colossians 3:2: 

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

This verse is serving as a lifeline for me right now as we endure a multitude of hardships affecting every single part of our lives.  

My latest favorite song is giving me comfort in these very stressful days, and speaks directly to this verse.  The whole world is in turmoil, we don't know what new catastrophe each day will bring, and there is fear and a longing for the old world that suddenly seems lost to us.  Aren't we all searching for the right answers to make everything "right" and normal again?

But is that where we should be focused?  Does God want our attention on us and on the worldly concerns that are occupying our every waking (and for many of us, sleeping) moment?  Should we be worrying about this temporal world at all?  This is our temporary resting place on our way to the higher plane of eternal life with the Savior whose mercy knows no bounds.

We are all broken.  God is the one who makes us whole through his grace.  No one and nothing in this world can deliver us from the wreck of human failure, no matter how powerful or wealthy or influential.  But there is absolutely nothing that God cannot do, and there is nothing that we can do without him.  Only when we seek him will we find peace, in this world or the next.  No matter what is troubling us, God has the plan that will piece us back together and make us better than new. That is the simple truth that should drive us if we believe in the promise of the resurrection.

The right piece of music reaches something deep inside me that almost nothing else can touch.  This is one of those pieces for me and the lyrics especially struck me this week as I have been thinking about the hardships so many people in this world are facing.   So I thought I would share some of my favorite parts that speak right to my soul in these wearying times.  (Google the YouTube video and listen to the whole song.  Its beautiful and the words are so meaningful.  It is the song I wish I could write, if only I were a songwriter!)

Graves Into Gardens from Elevation Worship, featuring Brandon Lake:

I searched the world
But it couldn't fill me
Man's empty praise and treasures that fade
Are never enough
Then You came along
And put me back together
And every desire is now satisfied
Here in Your love...

I'm not afraid
To show You my weakness
My failures and flaws, Lord, You've seen them all
And You still call me friend
'Cause the God of the mountain
Is the God of the valley
There's not a place Your mercy and grace
Won't find me again...

You turn graves into gardens
You turn bones into armies
You turn seas into highways
You're the only one who can...

Nothing is better than you.