The old song becomes the new song

Are you the same person you were ten years ago? Consider the views and opinions that were as dear to you a decade ago as life itself. Where do they sit now for you? Is there a position you previously held that has gone through profound change?

The zealot Saul was on his way to Damascus. He had already overseen the martyrdom of Stephen. Now he was consumed, breathing threats and murders against all followers of the Way. Luke, the author of the book of Acts tells us, suddenly a light shone around him from heaven (Acts 9:3). As he fell to the ground, he also heard a voice, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul had thought he was doing God’s business. Before King Agrippa, when later recounting his testimony, the apostle said,

Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth”
Acts 26:9

But his Damascus Road experience had transformed him. Saul came to see that in persecuting Jesus’s followers he was fighting against God himself. So it was that he did a 180 degree turn.

Perhaps, there is some position you used to hold tightly. Has God ever stopped you abruptly in your tracks? Have you allowed Him to shift you, to mould you, to remake you in His own image? It is Paul himself who reminds us that the time is coming when we will have perfect knowledge; for now, we know only “in part” (1 Cor 13:8,9).

Granted the changes we make are unlikely to be as dramatic as Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road they may still be critical to our emotional and  spiritual growth. In the words of Bob Gass, life owes us nothing if not an opportunity to grow (adapted).

The new song

As I look back over past journals, I see I have been especially careful to document learnings for growth in my life. Some have come as important changepoints at significant moments. I discovered some time ago, if your life’s worth living, it’s worth recording.

When we think about it, our journalling is just a reflection of what takes place in heaven. Psalm 56:8 reads “You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle: Are they not in Your book?” In commenting on this verse, Derek Kidner notes how “wandering” and “bottle” rhyme in the Hebrew, the one suggesting the other.

Alec Motyer puts it this way: “There is never a fluctuation of fortune or a tear, but the divine pen is at the ready to record it ”¹. In other words, our Lord stands watch over all the seasons of our life, the angel’s hand poised to record. More than this, He proactively brings us to the places and seasons which He wishes to use in the remaking process.

"If your life’s worth living, it’s worth recording."

We find recorded in chapter five of John’s gospel the account of a paralysed man beside the pool of Bethesda. He had lain immobilised for 38 years, unable to move. A picture of stuckness! And sometimes we remain so stuck in old patterns, old grooves of thinking. Until Jesus comes! When Jesus came, everything became so different. The paralysed was able to move after almost 40 years of bed sores and walk as God always intended him to walk.

Sometimes, I want to relive the last 50 years, and do it different, think it different. Yet that would be to undo all the “lessons learned.” Every half century they say makes the man! God knew well ahead of time how my views would need to change around the place of women in church, conflict within christian marriage, the mother heart of God, stewardship of our bodies, view of counselling, destiny, perfectionism, pastors, engaging with the cults and much more. How willing am I to be moulded, to be made into another vessel (Jeremiah 18:4)?

Psalm 98:1 pronounces “Sing a new song to the Lord.” Jill Briscoe talks of how God has never failed to give her a new song in the changing circumstances of life². She further shares that we can expect a new song  at each turn of the road, every new station of self-discovery or God-discovery (the one often linked to the other) on the highway of christian experience. One outstanding example in my own situation has been my life-long tendency to self-condemnation and that precious overriding message to my heart – come reside under the canopy of My grace.

I like the thought of the “new song.” When you have been living your life a certain way for a long time, allowing yourself only to think along certain grooves, out of sync with the Heavenly Father, the day will inevitably come when you feel you’ve landed in “a horrible pit” (Psalm 40:2). Amazingly, our incredible God Who never tires in His love towards us stands waiting to lift us to higher ground, “establish (our) steps” (v.2) and “put a new song in (our) mouth (v.3).” As you follow my journey (in the course of this blog), you will notice my need for re-learning earlier lessons again and again. Our Teacher is so patient. But each stage of the journey brings us to higher ground.

The day will inevitably come when you feel you’ve landed in 'a horrible pit'

At times, I thought I had cornered the truth on a matter, only to discover other aspects to the same truth along the way so I might hold all things in balance. There can be tension in that but I’m progressing, even if I’m struggling. The Pharisees would not struggle, they acted as if they had it altogether. They only received Jesus’s condemnation. At times, I may be struggling but I am no longer “stuck.” Along the way, I have known God’s smile. Rom 8:28 still applies. Jesus is saying, “We’ll construct something here of good and value for you.”

The alternative to this is we will fail in the first commandment of them all. To journey along as a christian and not move out of a closed mind falls staggeringly short of loving the Lord our God with all our mind (Luke 10:27). For my part, I have purposed that the next five years of my life will look exactly like the last five years, except for the changepoints grafted into my life with the power of the Holy Spirit. These points of change can only occur in the consecrated life and the surrendered mind.

In my case, they have led to a greater understanding of what it is to love others and grace myself more. Other lessons have been important but on the periphery to this.

There has always been much to ponder – and I hope you will ponder. It could be some of the same bridges I have needed to cross in my journey the Spirit would have you also cross in your own. The growth that has come my way has in some cases taken a long time to mature and has required deep processing. God is never in a hurry and neither do we need to be.

Psalm 84:5 records, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” For such, they will find a pilgrimage in which they move from strength to strength, but not without many tears. It costs us to relinquish something and to pick up our journey afresh in a new direction, but the rewards are out of this world. “How blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain! God-travelled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn – Zion! God in full view!” [84:5-7 The Message]

The growth that has come my way has in some cases taken a long time to mature and has required deep processing. God is never in a hurry and neither do we need to be.

My prayer for you as you read something of my journey is that you will be encouraged to reflect on your own journey, perhaps those changepoints the Holy Spirit has already brought you to, and remain available for all the learnings still to come. Along the way, think of Stephen Covey who once reflected: “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it is holy ground.”

¹ Alec Motyer Treasures of the King: Psalms from the Life of David
(Inter-Varsity Press, 2007) p.47

² Jill Briscoe One year Devotions for Women (Tyndale House
Publishers Inc, 2000) p.99