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Since Thanksgiving is the time of year where you stop to reflect and then scarf down half a turkey, I thought I’d go along with the cliche and state something on this blog that I’m thankful for.
As you can guess from the title, I’m thankful for pain. Does that seem paradoxical to you? It should, because it does to me, but yet it’s also a comfort. We often struggle with this philosophical “problem” of pain as if it’s an irreconcilable issue. Well it will be that so long as you decide to fight it, but once you embrace your pain (perhaps, embrace your cross?) a new thing happens. Suddenly the situation doesn’t seem so grim. Yes, it’s still dark, but when you embrace pain, seeing that it has a purpose and is not some random, sadistic act of God, then things and thoughts fall into line. You see the clouds, but you know there’s sunshine behind them.
Of course, the only group of people who have a real and realistic fix on pain is the Church..all those Christians, “led like sheep to the slaughter.” When you trust in a Sovereign God things make sense. Not total sense, perhaps, but some sense. We slightly see the point of the great tragedy and triumph of Christ dying on the cross, the ultimate picture of God suffering, for He did not remain dead but arose and through the pain came joy, through death came life, eternal life.
Am I thankful for the God who suffered the greatest on my behalf? Yes. But I am also thankful for the trials He puts me through. Over the past several months, as my life crumbled and cascaded down from the heights it stood on, I kept wondering, “one thing after another, how long till You leave me in the gutter?” But at the heart of this, in my own heart, I slightly see a reason…intense growth in my relationship with the King of all. As much as I’d rather have my life pristine and untouched, I cannot deny that I am very grateful for the pain that has refined and grown me.
There comes a time in every man’s life when…he stands in front of a mirror wearing tight spandex…i haven’t hit that point yet. But there also comes a time in every man’s life when he must shamelessly give a plug for himself. I have hit this point. And this blog will expound on that.
Whether or not you know my life goals, the big one is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ through music. Well a competition has arisen that opens an avenue into the tough Christian music industry (tough if you’re not fond of shallow, emotion-driven praise songs). The competition is on a site called cmsongwriter.com. I’ll post the link that directs you to my profile page. All you have to do is register (for free) and cast your vote. What’s great is you can vote once every day (which,if you’re voting for me, I’d highly encourage that). The competition runs til the end of November…i know,that’s a long time,but the way it’s looking with my competition,I’m gonna need a good amount of votes every day. Now here’s the link:
http://www.cmsongwriter.com/artist.php?id=89
While I have your rapt attention, I would like to note something this competition has brought to surface. Trying to be humble is one lesson,but even more so than that has been that of friendship. As I write this, I have 41 votes and roughly 365 profile views. The next person down (who ironically has entered a song that mostly fits my description of CCM songs in general..ok,ok,it’s not a bad song,the lyrics just need color) has 37 votes as of this writing and over 1200 profile views. I’m in the lead. I am only there because of my friends. Had I trusted on the song being “good enough” to wrangle in curious visiters to the site,I probably wouldn’t be in 1st place right now. So I owe much to my friends. Even though this competition is only a few days old (with many more to go), I have already seen the love,support, and enthusiasm of my friends.
Thank you..God has truly blessed me and I’m already ahead of Thanksgiving.
On a lesser note, my keyboard is acting up..this cannot be a good sign.
