I've always wanted to reach the broken
But how can I do these things without grace from above?
Oh Lord, give me grace and guide me with the words You have spoken
Sometimes I question why you've put me here
And other times I think I understand
But I'm learning that Your plan is always to bring me near
And it will always be for my good and for your glory
Take this heart
Fill it to overflowing
Take this life
Let it be an outpouring
Of Your love
I'm not one to be excited for change
I like things to stay the same and I'm happy where I am
But You are teaching me that comfort should not always be my aim
I know You will use me to love and shed light in the darkness
I wrote this song about a month ago. I had just sat down with my guitar and starting strumming four chords over and over again. Then I started humming notes to go along with the chords and thought "This would make a cool song." I started looking through my notebooks for inspiration for the lyrics of the song and stumbled on a note I had written a while ago. It simply said 'Outpouring: song title.' And that's how this song was born. And I've gotta say, it was all Jesus. He gave me the inspiration, helped me come up with rhyming words, and get my point across.
In my last post, I talked about getting out of my comfort zone and how that applies to this next year of school and such. That's really what I was thinking of while writing this song. Just the fact that, in all the new places I'll be in, God will use me to love and shed light in the darkness. For His glory. All the people I meet, all the events I take part of, everything is part of His plan. Like the last verse says, I don't like change. Plain and simple. I don't like change. And sometimes I sit and think, "I wish everything could just stay the same. I wish people didn't grow up and go off to college. I wish I didn't have to grow up and be responsible." But then I stop myself. Would I really have it any other way? Would I trade all of the change in my life, all the things that have shaped me and made me the person I am today, for uninterrupted peace and tranquility? No, I wouldn't. All those things, all those changes that put me waayyy outside my comfort zone? They ended up either teaching me some of the most valuable lessons in life or being some of the most fun I've ever had. All of them, every single one of them has brought me closer to God, whether I realize it yet or not.
Last week, I was part of a performing arts camp led by some awesome people who started a drama school in Northern Ireland. I was nervous, (big surprise there :P) as I had never really done performing arts before. We were going to be taught stagecraft, drama, and voice and then have three shows at the end of the week. Pretty daunting. But guess what? It turned into one of the best weeks of the summer. At the end of the week, I found out the leaders were Christians. I was so excited. At the end of each of the shows, they told the audience they were Christians and that they run these schools to help kids gain confidence and ultimately to glorify God. They said how they realize that all talent is a gift from God. It has nothing to do with us. That was amazing to me. My talent is God-given, and even when I'm not singing or dancing to Christian songs, I'm still using the talent He gave me.
When we realize that we could never do something on our own, all the glory goes back to God. Now believe me, I struggle A LOT with giving all the glory back to God. I like to keep at a least a little bit for myself. But that is yet another means of grace. God gently helps me realize that my gifts and my talents, are from Him. They are not mine. They are His. They are His, and so all the glory goes back to Him. I can't wait to see what changes and new things this next year brings. Am I scared? Yes. Is it outside of my comfort zone? Definitely. But God uses those scary, outside-of-my-comfort-zone changes to bring me closer to Him. And if that's what it takes, then bring it on.
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