The One Thing That Changes Everything Else

I have a friend who is struggling with the doctrine and work of the Jehovah's Witnesses. I have another dear sister who is struggling--quite literally--for her life, against alcoholism. They have one common characteristic that is at the core of their respective problems.

Both have a malformed image of their Creator.

When we see the One Who created us through a lens that's been bent, twisted, dirtied or broken, it affects us in ways we seldom truly see. We crave love from God, what C.S. Lewis called a God-shaped void. When we can't see the true Source through the lens that's been messed over, we search out a replacement. We search for the water from the River of Life and we find the firewater of hell. It fills our stomachs and hollows us out. We search for the way and the truth and the life, and when we happen upon a twisted version of the way and the truth, we think two out of three isn't bad. It puts us under a yoke of slavery to the law, where our hearts, minds and bodies break under the load of perfection-by-self, justifying ourselves by God's law rather than living under His Own fulfillment of the law, affording us the grace by which we can truly live.

All of this would be changed by a direct, personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the One Who walks through doors fastened shut by locks keyed by demonic tools. His own power is more than enough to bring the light into focus in a person's heart. He is the One Who offers us the Living Water that quenches our eternal thirst. He is the One Who said--the only One Who could say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Life isn't found in the bottom of a bottle of medication or of "liquid courage." Life isn't found in endlessly searching the scriptures for the way and the truth. Life is found in the person of Jesus. Once a person finds Him, there is no substitute that can satisfy.

My two older kids, who by God's grace have found Him, both felt this song fit the message they felt God was speaking to their hearts as we prayed for them.

You fought but you were just too weak
So you lost all the things you tried to keep
Now you're on your knees
You're on your knees

But wait everything can change
In a moments' time
You don't have to be afraid
'Cause fear is just a lie
Open up your eyes

And He'll break open the skies to save
Those who cry out His name
The one the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

Look now is not too late
Lift up your head
Let the rain fall on your face
You're not far from grace
You're not too far from grace

And He'll break open the skies to save
Those who cry out His name
The one the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

Break open the skies to save
Those who cry out His name
The one the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

I know the weight of this world can take you down like gravity
I know the current of yourself can take you out, out to sea
But hold on
Hold on

And He'll break open the skies to save
Those who cry out His name
The one the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

Break open the skies to save
Those who cry out His name
The one the wind and waves obey
Is strong enough to save you

          - Tenth Avenue North, "Strong Enough to Save"
            The Light Meets the Dark (see also this video journal)



I don't normally bog down a post with two songs. Your time matters to me and isn't taken lightly. However, this is a direct afterthought by the same band on their CD as well as by the Spirit

There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You've been remade
You've been remade.
You've been remade.
You've been remade.

          - Tenth Avenue North, "You Are More"
            The Light Meets The Dark



Pray for my friends to find the One whom the wind and waves obey. When His peace that passes understanding reaches their hearts, so much more will change. God, I want life for my friends. Find them, please!