Day 18: You Know Better Than I

I have always been a fan of a good animated film, and by “good” I don’t just mean well-animated with jaw-dropping visual effects.  I lean more on the story, and the moral of it.

Dreamworks have always been among my favorite when it comes to animated films.  They are, after all, the only studio who gave a chance for biblical stories to be made into a movie like The Prince of Egypt and Joseph: King of Dreams—both of which are among the top of my favorite list.

The song I chose for today is from the Joseph: King of Dreams animated movie and this song is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.  The lyrics, the melody—all of it comes together to give us a beautiful, beautiful song that speaks of how our faith, our trust, in God should be.  The title of this song is, of course, You Know Better Than I  and it was sung by David Campbell.  This song is available on the Joseph: King of Dreams album as well as on David Campbell’s Grateful album.

http://youtu.be/RddBWJgvKDY

The song, for me, speaks of a journey that most of us go through.  There are times, in our lives, when things just don’t go the way we planned.  When we pray for something to happen because we thought it is what is best for us, never knowing that something else—something much, much better—is intended for us.  And, often times, when we don’t get what we want, we get angry.  We stray from the path that God wants us to follow.

There are also times when we want so hard to be a better person only for something to happen or someone to come along that would mess that up for us.  We blame it on so many things and sometimes we even give up on the path that is right and just.  We rebel.  We think, “That’ll show you not to mess with me, God”.

The thing is, what we see before us is only a piece of a puzzle.  We don’t know the bigger picture—the masterpiece—our lives could become.  No one said that life is going to be easy.  No one said that the right path is a high-way.  No one said the journey will not be fraught with all sorts of hurdles and obstacles.  They are there for a reason: to mold us, to strengthen us; to teach us that as strong as we may think we are, there will always be times when we have to let go of our pride and just let go, let God take the wheel, carry the burden for us…and all we have to do is trust him.  Completely.

Faith doesn’t keep us from asking questions.  Faith merely allows us to be content, to trust that God knows what he is doing in our lives.  No father would not want what is best for his children.  And that is what God is: Our Father.  Our magnificent, omnipotent, merciful, and just father.

Below is the lyrics to this beautiful song.

Until the next post, dream on; fly on!

I thought I did what’s right.
I thought I had the answers.
I thought I chose the surest road.
But, that road brought me here.

So, I put up a fight, and told you how to help me.
Now just when I have given up, the truth is coming clear.

You know better than I.
You know the way.
I’ve let go the need to know “Why?”,
for you know better than I.

If this has been a test,
I cannot see the reason.
But, maybe knowing I don’t know is part of getting through.

I try to do what’s best,
and faith has made it easy,
to see the best thing I can do is put my trust in you.

For you know better than I.
You know the way.
I’ve let go the need to know “Why?”,
for you know better than I.

I saw one cloud and thought it was the sky.
I saw a bird and thought that I could follow.
But it was you who taught that bird to fly.
If I let you reach me, will you teach me?

For you know better than I.
You know the way.
I’ve let go the need to know “Why?”,
I’ll take what answers you supply.
You know better than I.

Original Article

Let Your Faith Go

The engineers hired to build a suspension bridge across the Niagara River faced a serious problem: how to get the first cable from one side of the river to the next. The river was too wide to throw a cable across it, and too swift to cross by boat.

An engineer finally came up with a solution!  With a favoring stiff wind, a kite was flown and allowed to drift over the river and land on the opposite shore.  Attached to the kite was a very light string, which was threaded through the kite’s tip so that both ends of the string were in the hands of the kite flyer.  Once the kite was in the hand of the engineers on the far side, they removed the kite from its string and set up a ‘pulley’.  A small rope was attached to one end of the original kite string and ‘pullied’ across the river.  At the end of this string, a piece of rope was attached and pulled across…and so on, until a cable strong enough to sustain the iron cable which supported the bridge could be drawn across the water.

Let your faith go.  Release it to God, believing that He can and will help you.  When you link your released faith with patience and persistence, you will have what it takes to tackle virtually any problem!

Original Article

Who Are You Trying To Please More Today?

A young man once studied violin under a world-renowned violinist and master teacher.  He worked hard for several years at perfecting his talent, and the day finally came when he was called upon to give his first, major, public recital in the large city where both he and his teacher lived.

Following each selection, which he performed with great skill and passion, the performer seemed uneasy about the great applause he received.  Even though he knew that those in the audience were musically astute and not likely to give such applause to less than superior performance, the young man acted almost as if he couldn’t hear the appreciation that was being showered upon him.

At the close of the last number, the applause was thunderous and numerous “Bravo’s” were shouted.

The talented young violinist had his eyes glued, however, on only one spot.

Finally, when an elderly man in the first row of the balcony smiled and nodded to him in approval, the young man relaxed and beamed with both relief and joy.  His teacher had praised his work!  The applause of thousands meant nothing until he had first won the approval of the master.

Who is that you are trying to please most today?

Original Article

Failure…

There once was a young man who lived a most miserable life.

Orphaned before he was three, he was taken in by strangers.  He was kicked out of school, suffered from poverty, and as the result of inherited physical weaknesses, he developed serious heart trouble as a teenager.

His beloved wife died early in their marriage.  He lived as an invalid most of his adult life and he eventually died at the young age of forty.

By all outward appearances, he was defeated by life, and doomed to be forgotten by history.

Even so, he never gave up trying to express himself and to achieve success over the twenty years of his active work life.  And, in that period, he produced some of the most brilliant articles, essays, and criticisms ever written.  His poetry is still read widely and studied by virtually all high school students in the United States.  His short stories and detective stories are famous.  One of his poems, on display at the Huntington Library, has been valued at more than $50,000, which is far more than the young man earned his entire life!

His name?  Edgar Allan Poe.

Circumstances don’t affect your chances for success nearly as much as your level of effort!

Original Article

‘Are You Still Carrying Her?’

According to an old legend, two monks named Tanzan and Ekido were travelling together down a muddy road one day.  Heavy monsoon rains had saturated the area and they were grateful for a few moments of sunshine to make their journey.

Before long, they came around a bend and encountered a lovely girl in a silk kimono.  She looked extremely forlorn as she stared at the muddy road before her.

At once Tanzan responded to her plight.

“Come here, girl,” he said.  Then, lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the slippery ooze and set her down on the other side of the road.

Ekido didn’t speak again to Tanzan.  It was apparent to Tanzan that something was bothering him deeply, but try as he would, he couldn’t get Ekido to talk to him.

Then, that night after they reached their intended lodging, Ekido could no longer restrain his anger and disappointment.

“We monks don’t go near females,” he said to Tanzan in an accusing voice.  ”We especially don’t go near young and lovely maidens.  It is dangerous.  Why did you do that?”

“I left the girl back there, Ekido,” replied Tanzan.  And then he asked the key question, “Are you still carrying her?”

Original Article

Day 17: Fall Apart

It is so easy to blame every single bad thing that happens in our lives to God.  After all, God is supposed to be omnipotent.  He is supposed to be our father.  He would not let anything bad happen to us, right?  He would not let us—nor want us—to feel sad; to feel weak and helpless.  The Holy Bible tells us a lot of stories about men and women empowered because they have faith in God.  We want to feel that powerful as well.

But then…why does bad things happen just when we try to become a better person?  Why does bad things happen to good people?  Why do children—innocent and pure—end up being abused and placed in harm’s way?  Why doesn’t God punish the evil, the corrupt, the bullies?  Why does suffering still plague the world?  Why?  Why?  Why?

It’s not hard to keep asking those questions when things don’t go the way we planned them—when our version of “a good life” is turned upside-down, when our world is shaken by bad news or when bad things happen to us.   It is normal to ask God why.  It is normal to wonder why life cannot be made entirely of pure bliss; why we have to suffer in this earthly realm.

http://youtu.be/t3EWHPp80EA

The song I chose for today, which is another song from Josh Wilson, speaks of that—among other things.  The song, Fall Apart, poses a great deal of things that we can think about.

It questions why it is easy for us to praise and worship God when things go our way, but so easy to shun him, to be angry with him, when it doesn’t.  Why is it so hard to feel close to God when things are falling apart?  Why is it so easy to put God’s name on high when we want something and are given that something, but so hard to keep it up when God gives us the answer we don’t want to hear?  When he says, “No” or “This is not the right time”?

I love this song from Josh Wilson’s See You album.  It makes you think about these things, you know.  I don’t know about you guys, but I want to know God more in every moment of my life. :)

Below are the lyrics to this beautiful song.

Until the next post, dream on; fly on!

Why in the world did I think I could
Only get to know you when my life was good
When everything just falls in place
The easiest thing is to give You praise

Now it all seems upside down

‘Cause my whole world is caving in
But I feel You now more than I did then
How can I come to the end of me
And somehow still have all I need
God, I want to know You more
Maybe this is how it starts
I find You when I fall apart

Blessed are the ones who understand
We’ve got nothing to bring but empty hands
Nothing to hide and nothing to prove
Our heartbreak brings us back to You

And it all seems upside down

‘Cause my whole world is caving in
But I feel You now more than I did then
How can I come to the end of me
And somehow still have all I need
God, I want to know You more
Maybe this is how it starts
I find You when I fall apart

I don’t know how long this will last
I’m praying for the pain to pass
But maybe this is the best thing that
Has ever happened to me

My whole world is caving in
But I feel You now more than I did then
How can I come to the end of me
And somehow still have all I need
God, I want to know You more
Maybe this is how it starts
I find You when
You will find me when I fall apart

Original Article

Day 16: Magnificent Obsession

In our world today, there are a lot of things that people are obsessed about.  It doesn’t have to be an actual ‘thing’, though.  Most people are obsessed with keeping their Facebook profiles so updated that you get to know what they are doing every, single, freaking second of their lives.  Of course, statuses aren’t the only things that Facebook addicts are obsessed about.  There are also those time management games that people can pour their lives and souls into, building imaginary farms, cities, worlds, or whatever you can possibly think of.

There are also those who are obsessed with television shows.  It can be about anything.  From reality shows to animated/anime/cartoon shows.  It can be about dancing competitions, singing competitions, or a variety show.  Like I’ve said, it can be about anything…even about teens getting pregnant at such a young age.  Some of those shows are inappropriate, especially with what’s happening in the world and the younger generation today.

People can also obsess about collecting stuff, from coins to stamps, to action figures, trading cards, and what-not.  They can also obsess about work, household chores, texting, taking and making phone calls, or it could just be an obsession with music, sports, video games, and stuff like that.  The list can go on and on, and each of us have different obsessions of our own…though we may not want to admit it for fear of being labelled by society.

The song I picked today talks about obsessions and it is a song sung by Steven Curtis Chapman.  This song—Magnificent Obsession—can be found on his Re: Creation album and it’s a beautiful song and is a song that I feel speaks to me today—which is why I chose it.

http://youtu.be/FXVCqd3HDDM

Listening to this song, I can’t help but desire to feel that same ‘magnificent obsession’ that Steven Curtis Chapman talks about.  This song feels like a prayer for me, and I suppose that’s why it feels so close to my heart.

Below are the lyrics to this song, that I hope will also touch the hearts of those who get to read this article from my blog.

Until the next post, dream on; fly on!

Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life’s complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling
like I’m chasing down the wind
But now it’s brought me back to You
And I can see again

This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession

So capture my heart again
Take me to depths I’ve never been
Into the riches of Your grace and Your mercy
Return me to the cross
And let me be completely lost
In the wonder of the love
That You’ve shown me
Cut through these chains that tie
me down to so many lesser things
Let all my dreams fall to the ground
Until this one remains

You are everything I want
And You are everything I need
Lord, You are all my heart desires
You are everything to me

You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You

Original Article

Never Stop

In 1928, a happy, ambitious young student nurse was diagnosed with tuberculosis.  Her family sent her to a nursing home in Saranac Lake for several months of ‘curing’.  She was destined to remain in bed for twenty-one years!  Most people might have given up, but not Isabel Smith.

She approached the threshold of death on several occasions, but she never ceased to pursue the art of living.  She read voraciously, loved to write letters, studied geography and taught other patients to read and write.

From her bed she studied atomic energy with a fellow patient, a young physicist, and organized a town hall meeting on the topic.

While ill, she met a kind gentle man, also a patient at the sanitarium.  She dreamed of marrying him and having a little house ‘under the mountains’.  At her lowest ebb, her dream kept her going, and in 1948, she did marry.

She then wrote a book about ‘all the good things life has brought me’.  Wish I Might, published in 1955, earned her enough in royalties to buy her mountain retreat.

A tragic life?  Hardly!  Isabel Smith achieved everything she set out to achieve, even when the odds against her were 1000 to 1.  Even flat on her back in bed, she never stopped growing, learning and giving.

Original Article