I love how the simplest words, expressions, acts, music, objects, smells (you get the point) can inspire so profoundly. The simple somehow becomes supernatural. I find myself in these places every so often--but don't very often write about it. A few weeks ago it was a place of worship and reflection with music. A few days ago, I was by myself at Starbucks in Springfield and a little boy was laughing and running around in circles as I was trying to sit down with my coffee and oatmeal. The dad was taking delight in watching his kid do this over and over until he saw that I was coming his way. The dad's expression immediately turned to parental control mode as his voice grew stern and motioned towards having his son get out of my way because it was the polite thing to do. Play time was over. At least until I passed. I had a few choices: give the dad a quick head nod in approval for taking control of his kid and proceed to my seat, don't acknowledge either of them or simply smile at the boy and dad to proceed in running around--because that's what little kids do (which is what I did). When the dad saw me do that, he immediately had a huge smile on his face and let his kid do his thing again. It was a simple act but it reminded me to not lose sight of the impact of those interactions. I'm not telling you to smile at everyone and tell you about the power behind a smile. I am, however, excited about what God does through simple acts. Whether it's starting a conversation at the store, paying for someone's meal--whether or not they're poor, giving someone a ride, listening to a story that seems like it's going nowhere, giving a compliment to someone, asking a question you normally wouldn't or simply smiling... it has the ability to become supernatural. As in, God often uses the simple to open up the doors to the deep. When Audrey and I bought groceries for a woman in Riverton last winter, naturally, it shouldn't have made her break down and cry and confess to us that she had given up on God and told Him that she no longer believed a few days earlier. But it did. When I was talking to my friend Ben tonight and got a mental picture of him on a teeter-totter (weird, I know)... I hesitantly asked him if he liked teeter totters on the playground and he mentioned he did and that he was just on one this past Sunday. Crazy. That led into much deeper conversation and a place we probably wouldn't have gone had that simple question not been asked.
Even
Jesus' greatest commandment was to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple and supernatural. Oswald Chambers said it best: "
God is supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural."
OK, now I'm doing a complete backtrack to the beginning of the post where I talked about music. This song has been pretty moving. It's "Find My Own Flame" by United Pursuit Band. Since I'm pretty easy-going, I can make decisions or act a certain way based on what other people think and lately I've been praying for a passion that comes directly from God--not people. And I love it. When you have your own passion/inspiration/vision it's different. You just know that it's going somewhere because deep down inside you believe in it. And these past few months I feel like I'm really getting to know Jesus, not church or a conference or a message, but Jesus himself. Here are the lyrics to the song (such a simple song...which leads to you know what):
I don't want to ride on somebody else's passion
I don't want to find that I'm just dry bones
I want to burn with unquenchable fire
Help me find my own flame
Help me find my own fire
I want the real thing
I want Your burning desire
Do what only You can do
In my heart tonight,
There's no better time
There's no better time
There's no better time
There's no better time Deep down inside see it coming alive
