Music: You make me brave
Music speaks to us and connects more deeply to our emotions than words alone can. Perhaps that is why I find it easier to connect with God when I am listening to music with meaningful lyrics. A song caught my attention recently; "You make me brave". The lyrics speak of God’s love, in wave after wave, crashing over us. Reminding us that God’s love is like the ocean in its enormity and we are engulfed by it.
The key phrase of the song is "you make me brave" and I think the concept that God makes us brave is good. It is meaningful.
But it has more meaning when connected to the idea of the enormity of God’s love. It is because of Gods massive, engulfing love that we can be brave. It is easier to be brave knowing that God is on our side, knowing that if we make a mistake he still loves us and will pick us back up. So we can have another go at being brave. I've noticed that Christians often end up either living small timid lives or totally alienating the people around them. Surely there is a better way? I like to think that if we start to live brave lives, that as long as we always keep Gods love in our minds we will be able to avoid the alienation of our community. We will be able to share our beliefs in gentle, kind ways, not rejecting people if they reject our faith. Not accusing them of fault or evil, just gently, kindly helping them in practical ways because of God’s love. And when appropriate sharing our beliefs. Without prejudice or judgment.
As the church we need to remember to show this love, remembering that only when surrounded by love will people be able to be brave and take risks. Even considering the idea of God is risky for a non-christian.
Within the church we need to ensure that people know that we will still love them when they fail. We, the church will still value them if a risk doesn't pay off and that we will love them even when they stuff up. Often the unknown is scary and it takes bravery to move cities, take a new job, start a new relationship or to make a new friend. It takes bravery to lay out your beliefs in a gentle way, opening yourself up for ridicule or attack, but if we remember the magnitude of God’s love for us we know that we will survive and maybe something great will come of our step of bravery. Without taking risks, nothing will ever change.
KG
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