This was original to Spring of 2009. Its still as important to me two years later.
My life, Has led me down this road that’s so uncertain,
Now I am left alone and I am broken,
Trying to find my way,
Trying to find the faith that’s gone.
This time, I know that you are holding all the answers,
I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seems,
To be the one that brings me home
Give me a revelation, show me what to do,
Cause I’ve been trying to find my way,
I haven’t got a clue.
Tell me, should I stay here, or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation,
I’ve got nothing without you.
My life, has led me down this path that’s ever winding,
Through every twist and turn I’m always finding,
That I am lost again
Tell me when this road will ever end.
(chorus)
I don’t know where I can turn,
Tell me when will I learn,
Won’t you show me where I need to go?
Let me follow your lead,
I know that it’s the only way
That I can get back home.
Give me a Revelation….
Revelation, Words by Mac Powell
I always liked that song, but never considered it as material for a blog post. One reason is that I try too much to imitate A.W. Tozer. Of course, different words will strike us in different ways at certain times. I’ve had this running through my head for a while.
If I had to describe 2009 (thus far) in three terms, I would say Confusion, discontentment, and peace. I know those three don’t seem to cohesive, but there it is. Confusion, as to where I’m going in life, or in this hour for that matter. Discontentment, with where I am spiritually, with my outreach to other people, relationships, and the big one of just laying down at night and getting mad at how one more day was virtually wasted. Now I’m not just talking about Jake Riley, because I know a lot of people feel this way. And I think it’s also part of being a teenager, or young person. It’s pretty easy to get sick of the mundane, and to feel like, when you do almost anything, you should be doing something else. We feel just like what this song says, that we’re going nowhere, or we’re immobilized.
Then there’s peace, knowing that God is in control. Maybe confidence would be a better word. Even though it seems like we’re going nowhere, we can be confident that God is using this time to shape us and bring us to the future that He has in store, both for our short handbreadth, and for eternity. And really, that’s the only real motivation to get up off our seats and stop bemoaning our lack of direction. There are a lot of secondary motives which we try, thinking that they will help launch us, but for me there never get anywhere. I mean, I try to focus on my hopes and dreams, for tomorrow, or next year, or marriage or a career, but when I work toward them they only seem to get farther and farther away. It puts things into focus when we recall that God is doing something. Not He’s going to do something, but He’s doing things right now. I feel like I am losing my ability to express what I am thinking fully in words, and that’s just me. But really, if our confidence isn’t misplaced, and really, if we want to go somewhere, and our desire to do more isn’t misplaced, that will be how it works, for He cannot be fully expressed in words.
That said, confusion and discontentment still arise. And it’s not a fun feeling. We should, and indeed are commanded to seek God’s peace, but part of that is asking for His guidance. And we can be confident in His guidance because of who He is:
All knowing, so we may have confidence that His way is indeed right;
All sufficient, so we know that He indeed is and shall be there when it gets hard, and when we don’t really know what the next step should be;
All powerful, so that we can be confident that He is mastering all things to accomplish His purpose;
All faithful, so that we know He is accomplishing all things for our good and His glory;
All loving, so that we may be sure that all that He is doing is for our spiritual good. That, for the Christian, He is taking us toward our one desire, which is deeper fellowship, or deeper life, with Him in all His sweetness;
Forgiving, that our mistakes will never turn His love from us, though in His love and wisdom He chasteneth us;
Working all things together for His glory, so that where He is indeed leading His child to what we want to end and aim of our life to be, which indeed is Himself.