Desert Song: Behind the Scenes

Yesterday in my blog I quoted from Hillsong's "Desert Song" and included a link to a performance of it by Brooke Fraser and Jill McCloghry, two of Hillsong's worship leaders. Today I stumbled across the story of what happened in Jill's life in the weeks prior to that recording. It is a powerful testimony of Jill's incredible faith and trust in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances and really adds even more depth to the song itself. I've posted two videos, first posting the interview with Jill and second reposting the song itself.

Desert Song

***This is my 75th post on Praises with a Skillful Song!***

This is my prayer in the desert

When all that's within me feels dry

This is my prayer in my hunger and need

My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire

In weakness or trial or pain

There is a faith proved of more worth than gold

So refine me Lord through the flame

Lately I've been dwelling on the idea of wilderness. It's one thing to sing a song like "Blessed be Your Name" and belt lyrics like "Blessed be Your name / When I'm found in the desert place / Though I walk through the wilderness / ... / On the road marked with suffering / Though there's pain in the offering" in the midst of our very American-flavored Christianity without much in the way of suffering, persecution, or hardship.

For the first time in what I would term my maturing personal relationship with Christ I've walked through a (small in some regards, not so small in others) wilderness this summer. Sure I'd had hardship these past few years, but it was always in the midst of a season of blessing and growth. I'd known that I was going to be experiencing a change in seasons with graduation and transitioning into doing EDGE with The Navigators, I just wasn't exactly sure what that was going to look like. It's turned out to be much different than I expected.

At the beginning of the summer I felt like the theme verse for this coming season in my life was the first verse of II Samuel chapter 2. After a period of waiting on God, David asks God if he should go up to one of the cities of Judah. God's answer is "Go up." David asks where he should go and God provides a specific city/path for him to follow: Hebron.

Honestly, it's been much more difficult than I'd expected. David goes up and is crowned King of Judah within three verses. Not that I was expecting to come away with a five-figure check after just one face-to-face, but what I was expecting was closer to the idea of green pastures and quiet waters and not anything like the valley of the shadow of death.

I should have expected it to be more difficult and here's why: Jesus set the example for all of us with a perfect life, right? Well not that any of our lives will line up experience for experience with his, but Jesus had to go through the wilderness before beginning His ministry too. Matthew 4:1 reads, "Then Jesus [after His baptism] was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil." Now I could literally go on for paragraph after paragraph and keep sharing, but I'll curtail my thoughts into two main points: the Spirit's leading and Jesus sustenance in the desert.

The same God that led David with the words "Go up" led Jesus into the wilderness and that same God is leading me now. And before God led David up to be crowned king He had David endure years of living, you guessed it, in the desert and running for his life from Saul. I still feel that II Samuel 2:1 is my theme verse for the present, but what I'm supposed to learn from it is completely different than I expected. It's easy to follow God when He's leading us where we want to go. Do I still follow Him when things don't turn out how I thought they should?

Before Jesus could begin His ministry, God used the wilderness and the Devil's temptations to expose what Jesus' true priorities were and where His soul was rooted: the Word. When everything was stripped away from Him, including food to eat, what did Jesus cling to and rely on? It was the Scriptures that sustained Him in the desert and enabled Him to stand up to the Devil's schemes. Am I looking for life in my own efforts and the approval or support of others or in God's Word to me?

Do you trust God to lead you, even if it isn't in the direction you expected? Where are you rooted: the world, or the Word?

Here's a video of Hillsong's "Desert Song" (the lyrics from the beginning of this post)-I've gained a much deeper appreciation for it over these past few weeks.

Praise Instead of Grumbling

I'm beginning to empathize with the Israelites. Let me explain a bit.


For those of you that are unaware, I'm in the middle of fundraising as I go on staff with The Navigators at Cal State University, Long Beach. This is not an insignificant amount of funds to raise and has been my main focus these past seven weeks or so. The process has been slow as I've met with people (friends, family, pastors, businessmen, etc.), sent out letters to those I can't meet with, and cast my vision for my ministry this upcoming year. But although it's been slow overall, things have really started to pick up in the last week or so.

Before I get to campus I am required to be at 75% of my budget-currently God has provided 45% of my budget. Here's where the connection with the Israelites comes in. Less than two weeks ago I was under 20%! Then in a flurry money just started pouring in-there are lots of neat individual stories but the main point is that there was MAJOR provision in a very short amount of time.

When the Israelites wandered through the wilderness and had no food, God provided manna and quail for them to eat. This provision was miraculous and amazing-birds and bread literally falling from the sky for them. Just like God's financial provision for me over the past two weeks, this was a specific need that God acknowledged and provided an answer to.

What was the Israelites' response? Complaining about other unmet needs. In the very next chapter the Israelites are complaining about not having enough water and asking if Moses brought them out to the desert to die! In the past whenever I read through this or any other section where the Israelites complained immediately after God had done something miraculous like parting the Red Sea or providing manna I would roll my eyes-"Here we go again."

Right now I'm in a similar place-I recognize and remember that God has just provided me in some pretty amazing ways, but I still need 30% of my budget before I can get to campus! Honestly, it's much, MUCH easier to focus on the latter half of that sentence, especially since students move into the dorms on campus this weekend!

I figure that there are two types of people reading this update: those who have already committed to supporting my ministry at Long Beach (in prayer, financially, or both) and those that have not yet. I'd like to ask some very specific things from both groups. Not that you can't read what I ask the other group or anything, but know that one of the following two paragraphs is targeted more specifically at you :)

For those of you who have already committed to supporting me: First of all, thank you! It's an amazing blessing to have the support of others in an endeavor like this. For those of you that have already given financially, I'm not asking you to give any more. I know that you didn't arrive at your commitment accidentally or haphazardly and don't want to be a burden. But to EVERYONE who has already to committed to supporting me, please be praying! Specifically pray:

1) for a grant application that is currently being reviewed that has the potential to double the $5000 my church committed to giving me

2) that I would be able to meet with a big potential donor that I have been unable to connect with as of yet

3) that my attitude through all this would not be like the Israelites but instead always grateful and God-honoring

4) that God would bring me to campus in His timing and be glorified through the whole process

For those of you that have not yet committed, would you prayerfully consider if my ministry at Long Beach is something the Lord would have you support? There is never a time when I will need fewer people praying for me! And I still need people who will commit to supporting me financially. Each commitment of just $25 a month raises me a whole percent! You can give online by clicking on the banner on the right-hand side or email me at joshray88@gmail.com.

I will be sure to update everyone on how things continue to develop and how God is moving!

Intentness

My dad passed this quote along to me after he reread "Wooden," the book by Coach John Wooden (the legendary UCLA basketball coach).

In this quote he defines one of the components of his Pyramid of Success: Intentness.

"[Intentness] is the ability to resist temptation and stay the course, to concentrate on your objective with determination and resolve.

Impatience is wanting too much too soon. Intentness doesn't involve wanting something. It involves doing something.

The road to real achievement takes time, a long time, but you do not give up. You may have setbacks. You may have to start over. You may have to change your method. You may have to go around, or over, or under. You may have to back up and get another start. But you do not quit. You stay the course. To do that, you must have intentness."

This is exactly what I needed to hear. My prayer is that I will continue to be intent as I continue raising funds for my (fast approaching!) ministry at Long Beach with The Navigators.

Provision

Tomorrow I will briefly be speaking at my church, Hope Chapel of the Valley. It's Missions Sunday and my pastor has arranged it so that I'll be able to present my vision and support needs to the congregation.

Please pray that God gives me favor and moves people to support me in whatever way(s) they can. I've still got a large portion of my fundraising to do before August 15th-this could be a major way that God works to provide for me!

YHWH is... (5 and 6 of 6)

*Today's post is a continuation of a small series of posts that I'm doing based on some insights into God's character that I received at Summit through the story of David and Goliath.*

This post took forever. Apologies. I've been a bit preoccupied, with my dad's father passing away, fundraising, and a million other things. But here it is, the conclusion of this mini-series.

Before revealing the fifth and sixth insights into God's character that I drew out of the story of David and Goliath, let's review what's come before. I've previously discussed the four following aspects of God:

1. YHWH is living. He is set apart from every other god, concrete or abstract, that we could worship in that He is ALIVE.

2. YHWH knows who we really are. If God is for you, then it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. God already knows and chooses to love you and use you anyways.

3. YHWH will prepare us. God has us undergo trials today in order to strengthen us for the trials of tomorrow.

4. YHWH won't ask us to be who we are not (and who He has not created us to be). A corollary of the second point, God will not ask us to function contrary to our design or purpose. We are as we are for a reason-because it is His will.

All of these points lead us to the fifth and sixth insights:

5. YHWH is the LORD Almighty, the LORD of hosts-YHWH Sabaoth

and

6. YHWH is desirous of praise

"Then David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands...that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD's and He will give you into our hands.' " ~1 Samuel 17:45-47

These last two points come from the same extended portion of Scripture. Perhaps some of David's most famous words (excluding some of the more famous Psalms), verses 45-47 are David's speech to Goliath before they close for combat. Though it is a very familiar passage to me, when I read through this section this last time my eyes and my heart were reopened to the raw power and beauty of the passage and I wept with joy.

David refers to YHWH in a manner that might carry little to no weight with those of us reading now, thousands of years later. In the NIV the translation is "the LORD Almighty" and in the NASB it is "The LORD of hosts." Anytime you see those specific phrases in those translations, it's this specific name for God. But really, do either of those give you a more specific insight into God's character the same way that "Lion of Judah," "The Great Physician," or "Jehovah Jireh"? They didn't for me. But I decided to find out exactly why there was a difference. What is this different name for God? YHWH Sabaoth.

YHWH Sabaoth is a name that reveals God as a God who is sovereign over all powers in heaven and earth, especially the armies of Israel. Wow. Think about that for a second. God is sovereign over ALL powers, not only those in heaven but here on earth as well. Jerry Bridges says in Trusting God that the essence of God's sovereignty is "His absolute independence to do as He pleases and His absolute control over the actions of all His creatures. No creature, person, or empire can either thwart His will or act outside the bounds of His will" (p. 34). God. is. in. control. David can have COMPLETE confidence in God because there is nothing that can occur outside of His sovereign will, and David serves Him and trusts Him. There is nothing to fear: YHWH Sabaoth was on David's side, is on mine, and has not changed!

But how can David (and how can WE) so willingly trust a Being with such complete and absolute power? What is our guarantee that we can trust Someone who is so high above us and different from us? Why wouldn't God just use His power to hurt or harm us instead of protect us or work for our ultimate good?

The answer is that "God does as He pleases, and that which pleases Him is always for His glory and our good* " (Trusting God, p. 47). David explains that the reason God will give him the victory over Goliath has nothing to do with David himself, but rather so that the whole earth will know there is a God in Israel and that everyone present will better know how God delivers His people! God's glory is the ultimate goal of David's encounter with Goliath and with every event to happen before and after that.

How does your picture of God compare with David's? There is no way that David fully understood God at the time of this story-he was human, and a young one at that. But I can't help but feel that there are huge lessons and insights to grab from the way his understanding of YHWH informed his actions. Spend some time examining the story for yourself and asking God to reveal more and more of Himself to you-you won't regret it!

*The phrase "our good" can never be separated from and only understood in the context of the phrase "God's glory." This subject merits it's own discussion, but suffice to say that a selfish and me-centered understanding of "our good" is both limited in understanding and un-Biblical.

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YHWH is... (4 of 6)

*Today's post is a continuation of a small series of posts that I'm doing based on some insights into God's character that I received this past week through the story of David and Goliath.*

4. YHWH won't ask us to be who we are not (and who He has not created us to be)

"Saul said to David, 'Go, and the LORD be with you.' Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head." ~1 Samuel 17:37b-38

This is effectively a corollary of the second point, which was that YHWH knows who we are. Because God knows who we are, He will ask us to function in a manner that reflects that and not in a way that is contrary to our design or purpose. In contrast to God's, Saul's actions are almost comical. After relenting and letting David face Goliath, Saul says "Go, and the LORD be with you."

Apparently God being with David just isn't enough for Saul. Rather then letting David face Goliath his way, Saul tries to exhibit some sort of control over the situation and make David fight Goliath the way that he would: in armor and in the manner of a solidier. Out of what were most likely good intentions, he tries to get David to wear his armor, but in doing so he’s asking David to be someone he’s not, a soldier instead of a shepherd.

God had no such requirement on David-all He expected was for David to show up as he was, willing to be used and trusting in God’s plan. David rejects Saul’s offer and goes just as he is-a shepherd boy with a sling and no armor. His confidence is in God and His plan, not in trying to level the playing field artificially. The fact of the matter that Saul just doesn't understand is that it's supposed to be an unfair fight. From the world's point of view, it's supposed to be unfairly balanced in Goliath's favor. But from God's point of view, which David sees, the odds are stacked in David's favor. Why? That leads into my last two points, which will come (together) tomorrow.

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