How Great Is Our God??? Seriously...how great?

How Great Is Our God?

Sing It With Me….or not…

There has been a whole lot of uproar about traditional music vs. contemporary or “Praise/Worship Music” in churches over the last decade or so. I really don’t care one way or the other as long as you are making a joyful noise to the Lord and mean it. But I must say some of the “Praise/Worship Music” or whatever it is called does repeat the same words a whole bunch of times over and over and over and over and over and…...well you get the point. As a songwriter who fidgets and contemplates every lyric I write, I kind of think that is cheating, but I am  probably just jealous and bitter that I haven’t found the perfect words for a praise phrase to sing over and over and over and over and over and over…..

But I really do like that one song, “How Great Is Our God"

How great is our God, sing with me

How great is our God, and all will see

How great, how great is our God”

You can hear it hear and sing along here…it is a wonderful song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKLQ1td3MbE

I love the song because when you sing those words it lets you do what we are suppose to do. Praise his name. Not just ‘worship music’….but assisting in the worship of God. I love that. But let’s say that someone who might not know “our” God. hears us singing about how great he is but they have never experienced his ‘greatness’ yet..they might be a bit confused if they have not yet heard of our God.  The only thing they have to go on is what ‘our’ God does for our everyday life, right? The example of His power in our lives and the lives of others is really the only way they can understand the words of “How Great is Our God" until we have shared the actual  message. 

So after the election when some of the same people I have heard sing that song so passionately have been so angry, sad, disappointed and downright ugly about how the election turned out, I have to wonder…what God were they singing about? I mean if you prayed, as many did, that ‘our’ God’s will be done and it turned out a different way than you thought was ‘His Will”…it means one of two things. Either you didn’t really care about ‘our’ God’s will OR.. ‘our’ God wasn’t powerful enough to rig an election.  And this is why (although I have practically been stoned) I have been saying for a year.... keep “our God” out of “our politics”. Because I can guarantee you not all Christians prayed the same prayer, so at least half of us were going to be disappointed and sometimes we need to thank God for unanswered prayers in the words of Garth Brooks..(or whoever wrote that song).

And another thing…. how great IS our God? Is he not great enough to take us through anything? Did we really need the ‘right political party or human being’ in a place of authority to have faith that God is still in control? Do you really think if one man wants to ‘destroy this country’ he can do it no matter what God wants? How great IS our God?

Have we become so selfish and so elitist that we think we can ‘put in our order’ to God for what we want in this country and he will serve it up like a fast food restaurant? I think God may have looked at the whole hate filled, fear mongering, scare tactics done in his name and said, “These kids need to be put in time out until they can learn to at least pretend to act Christ-like”.  Our mission is to spread the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, not to promote one political ideology over the other. If you can find the words “democrat and republican party” in the bible, please message that to me ASAP. I have got to to see that.

Now I hear there are five states that have started petitions to withdraw from the United States of America. Ooooohhh…kayyyy. Can we help you pack??? Where ya gonna go? And what ya gonna do when ya get there? I heard a bunch might go to Canada..but that can’t be true because they have that HORRIBLE socialist health care system there. I heard a couple who were going to Australia where they have a white Christian President…which is actually a female atheist..but whatever. Or maybe you could go to some of the poorest nations in our world and be a missionary there and see how bad we have it here. I bet things will not look so sad, scary and desperate then. 

From Psalms 146… “Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them.”

A lot of this madness and fear has been preached from our pulpits..so How GREAT is our God??? Not great enough to handle the problems of America? Not great enough to change the heart and lead any human no matter how much you hate him? How GREAT is our God? If you are singing it with confidence and not fear, if you are singing it with love and the compassion of Christ and not hypocrisy and judgment..then sing it loud and sing it clear and share it from  the top of your lungs. Otherwise, sing it in your sanctuaries quiet and self serving and leave the rest up to our Great God.

May the peace and power of  God be with us all…

~Squirrely Girl