Friday’s Tune: Legendary

19 Friday Jun 2020

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I went grocery shopping yesterday and it wasn’t long until I became an angry shopper.

I met a woman coming the wrong way down the well-marked aisle. I kindly pointed it out to her and she walked right and muttered, “I don’t think so”. It immediately sparked something primal in me. I replied, “no, really. There are arrows on the floor”. She replied without stopping or looking back, “I don’t see anything”. “Really?” I barked, and turned to go. That’s when she muttered something rude. I won’t repeat it.

It made me angry: her sense of entitlement to break the rules, her assumptions about me, and overall, the complete lack of respect.

Anger is a natural response. In some cases, it’s an appropriate response. Even Jesus got angry. But he didn’t live angry. He didn’t feel angry. Not all the time. It was one of the reasons that I quit my job. I felt angry all the time, and I don’t want to be that person.

I don’t want to drive angry. I don’t want to work angry. I don’t want to live angry.

On the way home from the store, Skillet’s song, Legendary, was playing.

Every day I fight to be…Legendary

What does that mean? I know for some it means building an empire, getting noticed, having a following. As a Christ Follower, I am not called to build my kingdom but God’s.

Somewhere along the way, God started to connect the dots. To be legendary means to live every day as Jesus did. Jesus spoke out against injustice. He built up the poor and the weak. He loved the outcast. The very things we let divide us never mattered to Him. Instead of skin colour or cultural backgrounds, He saw people who struggled and hurt.

Legends made when faith is strong.

It sounds simplistic, but if we all adopted the attitudes of Jesus, wouldn’t it stand to reason that our actions would become an outpouring from a place of love. Our own sense of importance and entitlement would dissipate. We would have the energy to focus on fighting for the things that matter – “breaking down the wall of hostility” – instead of fighting each other.

I’m not naive nor do I belong on a soapbox. I know the problems in our world are greater than any one person. Or any one group of people. But it doesn’t mean I stop trying. I can choose to be angry, or I can choose to live another way.

Every day I'll fight to be

Happy Friday!

Lyrics Youtube

photo: canva.com

Friday’s Tune: Terrify the Dark

28 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Faith

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faith, Friday's Tune, music, Skillet

I finished last week feeling blind-sided and wounded. And unlike a 30 minute sitcom, or a one hour drama, there’s been no miraculous resolution. The music isn’t swelling as tears of laughter and joy run down our cheeks. Not yet.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any music.

Last week, I debated over several “Friday tunes”. Today’s was a close second. I liked the concept long before the phone began to ring last week.

Skillet‘s song, Terrify the Dark, begins with “No power on Earth, no power in Hell is gonna steal my peace”. But peace can be elusive when you feel threatened, overwhelmed, terrified. When suddenly you’re facing the unknown and you feel completely unprepared and oh so very small. Fear squeezes the breath from your lungs. It toys with your emotions. It wakes you up in the middle of the night and clomps around in army boots. Fear is greater when it seems darkest. So we have a choice: to cower in fear in a corner, or to expose it to light.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5

I always had a nightlight. I was an imaginative kid, and the craziest things used to terrify me. I was scared of raccoons. I was scared of demon-possessed cars that wanted to crash through our front window and drive up the stairs to kill me. I was banned from watching Dr. Who. For awhile, I even believed something lived in the cellar of our enclosed back porch. Our only bathroom was downstairs off the kitchen. So was the back porch. I would lie awake at night waiting for the furnace to run so the sound would cover my footsteps and I could pee undetected. I had terrible dreams too, and I would lie awake for hours waiting for the sun to rise. As soon as the room began to lighten, I felt safe and I would drop right off.

Your light will terrify the dark, I call upon the name
That tears another part
My doubt will answer to your scars, and fear will have no place
No hold upon my heart

I still have terrible dreams, but I can more easily dismiss them and go back to sleep. I don’t use a nightlight anymore. The fears, though, they can still steal my breath at times and wake me up at night. But when they do, I pray. I can’t hasten a happy ending in our current circumstances, but I choose not to let any power, including fear, steal my peace or hold my heart. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12). He will be my comforter and my defender. Not only will He expose the darkness that has no place in my life, He will terrify it. And that thought makes me smile!

terrify the dark