The girls were at our church for the recording or I guess it was recorded as they were live--that's confusing :) We all watched from home, as did everyone else in the youth group. They haven't had worship sets since the Covid shut down in-person meetings, so it was fun to sing along like we "used to." Way back, when :)
Caelan realized she makes lots of faces when she speaks--I can't imagine where she gets that from :) She really did an excellent job! Buck said that watching it at work (after the live stream had ended), he had to walk away where other people weren't because he was all teary-eyed from being so proud of the girls :)
Here's the message Caelan shared:
At the beginning of the social distancing, I was mostly frustrated. I wasn’t just frustrated that everything closed down and all my activities had stopped, I was frustrated with God. My family has had a rough year. First my grandpa passed away. Then my aunt died young from cancer. The compassion child I’d chosen to support died when he was only 4 years old. When the Corona Virus hit, the mission trip I was going on to Africa was postponed and the Sunday gathering I was going to play worship for was cancelled. Then the world shut down. I was like, “Why God? Why can’t I have a break from things going wrong?” Maybe you guys can relate. It can be a day, a week or a month when you just want something to go right.
Sometime in the middle of social distancing I found these verses:
“Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2
When I first read those verses my reaction was something like, “Wow these are great verses but I am definitely not feeling it right now.” I was frustrated with God. I was annoyed with him for letting all the pain and inconvenience happen. I didn’t understand what the problem was. I knew God was supposed to be my fortress, but it sure didn’t feel like I was in an apocalypse bunker.
A couple days after I found those verses, I went into my backyard, by myself, and did something I had never really done before. I had a quiet time with God. This is something I had wanted to do; I’d just never found the time. As I was praying, I felt unrest in my soul. I asked God, “Why am I so frustrated? What am I missing?” Straightaway the words of the song I sang earlier came to me, “Peace, bring it all to peace.” That is when I realized I was not at peace. I was angry and annoyed.
My soul felt tired and embittered. I prayed to God for his peace and instantly my entire mindset changed. I was joyful and no longer frustrated. My soul felt at rest. The verses I had read earlier felt relevant.
I want to go back and look more closely at those verses,
“Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.” Psalm 62:1
This verse says our souls find rest, or peace, in God. It is easy to try and find peace in other things especially during this time when we are stuck at home. You can try and find peace in staying busy and not thinking, or completing a new level in your favorite video game, or just doing nothing and mindlessly scrolling on your phone. But when the day is done, our time just feels wasted. We are troubled and still not at peace. That is because only God can give true peace.
Peace is a deep feeling. Peace is more than a freedom from worry. It is more than calm in a storm or not being in conflict with someone. These are all aspects of peace, but peace is so much more. Peace is a state of flourishing. It is like when you put a flower in a vase. Now the flower may last a while if you stick it on a shelf and let it be. But the flower will last much longer if you trim the ends of the stems, give it water with the little packet of who-knows-what, and set it in sunlight. If you dump the flower in a vase it might survive, but if you take care of it, the flower will flourish and live. When we are not at peace, our souls feel like the flower dumped on a shelf. Our souls start to wither. But, when we are at peace our souls and our lives flourish, like the cared for flower.
Going back to the second half of the verse, it says, “My salvation comes from him.” We know this to be true in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our sins. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”
Without Jesus, we would never be able to stand before God as a clean son or daughter. Jesus has made the way for us. We have been set free! That knowledge, in itself, gives a sense of peace; knowing that, no matter what we have done, God has forgiven us. In fact, it is because of Jesus we can have peace in every circumstance.
The second verse I read was Psalm 62:2. It says,
“Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
The opposite of peace is stress and fear. We have an enemy who doesn’t want us to be at peace. He wants to amplify your stress and fear so you are distracted from seeking peace.
The enemy wants to steal that peace and switch it out for worry and fear. The good news is we don’t have to listen to him. It says in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
We have the power to tell the enemy to stop whispering his lies. God is powerful. He can give you peace. Peace that flourishes.
Psalm 62:2 says, “He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” I have never been to a castle, but I have been to the Alamo. We all know how “great” a fortress that was, so maybe this isn’t the best example; but, anyways. The Alamo’s walls and ceilings are made out of rock. I remember going into a small room, made completely out of stone. Outside of this room it was hot, loud and full of tourists. Inside the room it was cool, dark and quiet. I felt protected on all sides surrounded by the rock. I felt safe.
That’s kind of how I imagine the fortress in the psalm to be. Surrounding us and protecting us. God is our fortress. Although it seems to be trembling, our fortress is strong and will not fall. Psalm 46:2 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” He is protecting us and he has everything under control.
The enemy can whisper lies all he wants but God is our rock and we know that we will not be shaken!
I didn’t read this verse earlier but I would still like to look at it:
“Yes, my soul, finds rest in God;
my hope comes from him.”
That is Psalm 62:5. When you are at peace a joy comes that is unlike any other happiness. This joy is deep. It is the kind of joy that can’t help but overflow and affect the people around you. With this joy comes hope. When worry is replaced with peace, you get excited instead of afraid. Imagine a life where there is no worry. Wouldn’t that be amazing! A life where you are excited for the next day, instead of dreading it. A life where you aren’t frustrated and instead joyful! The incredible thing is that we can have that kind of life in Christ.
I know it is so easy to be worried, frustrated and scared. But instead of dwelling on those feelings and thoughts, take them to God. He is so ready to listen. Let Him take any stress and fear you have. Ask God to change your heart from worry to peace, frustration to joy and fear for strength. Ask God for his peace. He’s always ready to listen.
Our youth director wrapped up the evening and invited other students who wanted to give leading a go, to let him know. Brennen was like, "I'll do that!" So, maybe stay tuned for his youth group debut :) I'm glad our Crew is willing to try something different and to be a light for Jesus in unexpected ways; He gave them the talents they have, it's fun to see them use those talents to give God the glory ❤
1 comment:
This was amazing to watch and Buck has every right to be teary-eyed and proud. You two have done an amazing job raising them to be kind, caring, giving, funny, witty, talented......so many more adjectives!!! They rock!!!
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