Music Does some Crazy Things

 

I love music. I love all types of music (well sort of, not into screamo, classical, baroque, or a lot of hymns) from Country to Hiphop, to R&B, to Pop, to Rock. I especially love worship music. My wife and I differ on styles of worship music that we enjoy. She is into worship music that leaves you feeling happy and excited, while I love music that leaves me feeling moved and shifted. I am madly in love with much of the worship that Hillsong Church in Australia is writing. I am also in love with a ton of Chris Tomlin and David Crowder. Some of my favorite worship albums are from bands such as Kutless and Seventh Day Slumber. I love worship that drives me to pour my heart out to God. Maybe it is because I spend a lot of time feeling spiritually deprived.

On my iPod I have several different playlist. Playlist from Pop Favorites, to Country Favorites, to Michael’s Favorites, to Short Favorites (A list of my favorite songs that is smaller than Michael’s Favorites, by about 100 songs), to Worship, to Needing to Reconnect. My favorite playlist is Needing to Reconnect. It is the list I go to when I am feeling down. It is the list I go to when I am feeling distant from God. It is the list I go to when I need inspiration. It is the list I go to when I am perplexed and needing God to listen.

Music is very powerful to me. When I am working on a project I love to have music playing. Sometimes my mood or project defines the style of music I listen to. If I am doing something with my hands I may throw on some Country or a little Skillet. If I am driving in the car I like to listen to the Pop Favorites list with artist like Lady Gaga, Tio Cruz, Ludacris,  Ke$ha, and many other artist (I know this is not spiritual in any way and most of the lyrics are dumb, but sometime I like things that have no importance attached to them). If I am mowing the grass it could be a plethora of music styles calling my name. When I am working on a lesson or sermon, it is almost always from the Worship or Needing to Reconnect lists.

I believe God uses many platforms to speak to us, but one he uses the most is music. Music styles vary depending on age, taste, and preferences. But each of us have a style of music that we really connect well with. Somewhere in there the lyrics of a song coupled with the guitar rifts, melody and rhythm really speak to us.

This afternoon I was working on my sermon for this coming Sunday. I have been really struggling with my understanding of something I thought I knew (I talked about this yesterday). In the middle of reading a paragraph the song “Lead me to the Cross” recorded by Seventh Day Slumber came on, and I completely lost focus with my reading. I put the book down, shut the door, turned off the lights in my office, and began singing. I then turned off the iPod, walked out of my office to the Sanctuary where I began an great time of prayer with God. All this happened because I heard a song.

I love what music can do. It can cause me to quit what I am doing and turn my focus to God. Music speaks to me in ways that others sometime cannot. What speaks to you? What causes you to do thing you weren’t planning on doing? How does God speak to you when you need to hear him the most?