The past week or so I have been revisiting a lot of my favorite Christian song and artists from my high school / college days. It’s amazing how quickly all the lyrics come back as the song comes on in the car. I love Apple Music and it is fun to add some of these old albums (that I still have nearly organized in a box of CDs — untouched for years).
Some of the lyrics have really been encouraging in the craziness of 2020. Last night I was driving home from the lake after sunset, pano roof open, fresh air blowing through the car, and a favorite song from my early high school years came on — Steven Curtis Chapman’s Way Beyond the Blue.
The passion fades and your sense of adventure
Sits collecting dust on a shelf;
The new gets old and hearts get cold.
Where’s the flame that burned with excitement?
Where’s the hope you once knew so well?
It’s lost at sea with all your dreams.
There you stand caught between an endless sky above and earth below;
Look above and beyond what you can see to find a view of all that this life can be.
Way beyond the blue where the Father is calling,
Let Him take you to a life beyond compare;
His love is wider than the sky above you,
And He has plans for you that go way beyond the blue.
Like the wind carries an eagle,
Let His hand carry you now,
And show you scenes of His mighty strength.
As you rise high above all the riches that this world could give,
You will find the depth of His love,
And His grace that is lifting you up to live.
Way beyond the blue…
It’s so easy to get caught up in the swirl of everything that’s going on right now. Then one day you look up and realize that your passion, wonder and sense of adventure is just… lost, gone, or at the very least replaced with an almost indifference or just existing. My friend, Stephanie, posted a goofy video this morning asking, “Have you seen my motivation? I seem to have lost it.” Seriously though! I’m so with that sentiment some days. I realize some people think I am a production machine over here, and it’s true that I do have the ability to accomplish a great deal of things (although I still maintain that Sara and Jake blow me out of the water most days) and I am not one for procrastination. The reality is that some days I get up and do what needs to be done because that’s what responsible adults need to do. It doesn’t mean the passion or excitement is on point. But that’s what I want. I want to be excited about what I do; to live in the wonder of the moment; to keep reaching for those things that fuel my heart and cause passion and hope to surface in me. Occasionally folks who have not been to Voice come to the Camp and I get to give a tour. It’s always fun when conversations happen and I get to share part of my journey and why I do what I do — because it helps me rekindle and remember. The word of our testimony, telling the stories, remembering the victories and all the good gifts and crazy blessings cause us to re-up, as it were. To restate the lyrics of Chapman’s song: like the winds carries an eagle, the hand of the Divine moves us upward, thus we get to see all those amazing scenes and moments where His partnership was so evident and unmistakable.
So when you feel bogged down in a passionless existence; wandering about as if you have lost direction; having no feelings of wonder or even hope; when despair pulls like an anchor around your heart — know this:
There
is
so
much
more.
Maybe you can’t see it because the sky seems so vast and empty; the horizon stretching for miles without hope in sight. So we climb upward and forward, searching for that place to catch a view of what could be. Above and beyond that sea of blue there’s a LOVE that is wider and more limitless than what you can imagine or experience in the tangible realm. It is this love from the Divine that longs to partner with those desires and dreams that are built into each of us — all the unique giftings and abilities that make us… human [Psalm 139:16]. The Divine loves to come alongside and say “I am with you. I love that you are pursuing this with all you are. Don’t give up on this dream. Don’t let fear cause you to back down. My love and grace are with you, lifting you up to see beyond … to see the MORE that you were created for.”
Oh, and don’t think that the MORE has to mean some grandiose thing. The simple, small moments and unseen acts of generosity and kindness are so often the most-remembered and impactful to those who receive them. People tell the stories of the times a stranger paid for their groceries, the meal at the restaurant, the random money in an envelope under the windshield wiper…And 2,000 years later, we still read the stories in the scriptures of people who did small things and have forever impacted history. [Isn’t it cool that Rahab was included in the “Heroes of Faith” in the letter to the Hebrews!?]
Way beyond the blue is the upward call to where we CAN live — a life beyond compare — a place of passion, love, wonder, hope, and incredible joy!