One of our granddaughter’s favorite songs is by Lincoln Brewster – God You Reign. Meredith (Nana) has it on her Ipod as part of her favorites list and it comes on regularly as she taxies Laura to and from school. It got to the point where Laura would climb in the van and say “God You reign Nana” so that Meredith would turn the song on and as soon as it was over Laura would say “play it again Nana…play it again.” Shortly after Laura turned two…we would hear her singing as she played in her room or walked around the house “God You reign…God You reign…forever and ever…God You reign.”
I stood in the back of a small room full of children sitting in plastic lawn chairs, a dirt floor, no A/C, electricity or running water. The kids were waiting for, what for most of them would be, their only meal of the day. Suddenly the song God You Reign rushed into my head, but the scene laid out in front of me didn’t fit into my normal view of worship…it was confusing to my comfortable American theology.
One week before, I stood in church singing similar praise and worship songs. The images on the screen made it easy to be drawn to a glorious God. A picture of a women, dressed in white, standing ankle deep in a calm ocean, hands raised in praise and an incredible view of the sunset. God You Reign makes perfect sense in this setting…it’s easy to see the glory and majesty of our creator and loving Lord.
These are familiar images to many of our worship songs; snow covered mountain tops, fields and valleys full of beautiful flowers and again, scenes of oceans and incredible sunsets. All the people in these scenes are dressed well in postures of worship and why wouldn’t they be? Isn’t part of our relationship with God spending time alone with Him in His creation? Don’t we find it easy to worship in setting like these? I know I do.
So standing in the back of this room looking at children waiting upwards of three hours for their only meal of the day with God You Reign running through my head was more than I could handle. I had to step outside; an emotional wreck. How could God reign in a village that has little hope? How is God reigning over the 26,000 children who die every day of starvation or preventable diseases? These thoughts and images are offensive to what I have subconsciously been taught.
The reality is – God does reign in these situations. You see, God in not the problem…the problem is with you and me. I am currently reading Radical (Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream) by David Platt – he addresses many of the very things I struggled with. It’s a tough book to read – especially after returning from a mission trip to a third world country but I highly recommend it.
We ask God “where are you for the 26,000 children dying every day?” What I am learning is that God is look back asking us the very same question. You see, God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. His plan is for us to take Him to the world. We are His answer to the children dying of hunger and the 1.5 billion people who have never heard the name of Christ. Reality is – there will never come a day when we stand before God and He says “I wish you had kept more for yourself.”
God You Reign. I can’t hear that song anymore without thinking of those children. I no longer want a selfish faith that puts my comfort and convenience at the center of God’s will. God You Reign…and He has created us to be His agents to the world. God You Reign…and has called us to live a life of reckless abandon for the sake of others. God You Reign…and He has commanded us to spread the gospel to all nations by spending our lives for the good of other and the glory of God. God You Reign…and I want Laura to see her Nana and Papa living in a way that draws her into a life of radical service for Him.
GOD YOU REIGN!