Heart Afire: Find rest in God alone; my hope comes from him.

God speaks to us through numerous ways. He often sends songs my way....since music is what really speaks straight to my heart. He has sent songs to me throughout my life at various times that reminds me of what he is speaking to me. I had gotten away from listening to Christian music or Christian radio. I love all types of music and drifted from giving Christian music it's equal playing time. Not saying that one has to listen to Christian music...God can use any song to speak to you or encourage you. But, the last few weeks I have just really been having some inner battles and have refocused myself towards things like Christian music, bible studies, focus on my everyday relationship with God, etc. He is where all of our strength, wisdom, joy, peace, protection, guidance, EVERYTHING....comes from. I want to be consumed by him and focused on him. In many of my whining lately...he keeps bringing the scripture of Matthew 6:33, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." I am going through a lot right now on so many different levels...but God is so right...if we focus on him, he will take care of the rest. This has continuously been spoken to me lately...I am extra sensitive and emotional lately...and it's been painful. There are things in my life that are open wounds that need healing. There is sadness where there shouldn't be. There is worry and weakness where I should be strong. But, instead of letting God deal with these things in me...I have packed them up neatly in boxes and put those boxes in a nice concrete walled off area. I can handle it myself, right? Let's just don't think about it, don't deal with those feelings and issues, push them into this room and keep moving forward. That, of course, does nothing but let all the junk pile up into a bigger mess that is now behind walls that make it harder to resolve. So, I believe that God has been chiseling away at that wall...which isn't pleasant....it's painful. He's really dealing with me on some things and I am now to the point where...I have an pickax of my own helping to tear down the walls. And, though I'm trying to be on board with the wall tearing and becoming an active participant in the process...it's still very painful. So, one day I was actually listening to J93.3 my favorite of the two christian radio stations in Atlanta...and usually when I am driving in the car...I don't play music. I drive in silence. I think, pray, or just bask in the quietness. If there is music playing, it's just background noise that I'm not 100% listening to. However, like I said earlier...God has been using music to speak to me lately. I posted a song a few posts ago of a song that spoke to me called By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. (By Your Side Post) Again, I was driving along and not really listening to the music when this song started to play and it was like everything else went quiet and every word resonated in me. If we focus on him, keep walking towards him, diving deeper into him....

And hold on cause there’s good for those who love God

But life is not a snapshot

It might take a little time but you’ll see the bigger picture

Would you dare would you dare to believe

That you still have a reason to sing

Cause the pain that you've been feeling

It can’t compare to the joy that’s coming

So hold on you gotta wait for the light

Press on and just fight the good fight

Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling

It’s just the dark before the morning

So, today I wanted to post the music video of this song on here. While I was looking for a good video that I wanted to put on here...I found a video where Josh is telling the story of how the song came about. It is totally different from anything that I am dealing with, which just shows how God can use things to speak different things into different people during different times for different purposes. But, the story is quite amazing and another great testimony of how amazing God truly is and how he is our sustainer, healer, and protector.