Author: Christine Wyrtzen

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

One of my orchestral arrangers from the past recently sent me the original score to a song I recorded on my third album. It’s called Living Water. (See the lyrics at the end.)  I cried with joy when he sent it to me because I no longer have the original track. I now have the challenge, and joy, of reproducing it on my equipment at home, on my flutes, piano, and sampled synthesized sounds. I will be able to play the instrumental parts right off his score. And, as importantly, I can lower the key a half step so that I can sing it more easily.  Aging voices get lower. Have you noticed?

But let’s say that I had the original track. With today’s technology, I could send it away to a production studio and ask them to lower it a half step. Would there be a difference between what they would do electronically and what I will do by playing it live in the right key? Yes. Artificially lowering the key messes with the harmonics of the original key. It will sound flat and lifeless. To have it sound beautiful, it must be original. The harmonic ring to an A on a piano can not be duplicated on a digital keyboard!

I got thinking about that today as I began to prepare to re-record the song. God made us in His image. We are each originals. We are wondrous and unique. When we try to re-fashion ourselves into someone else, we come across flat. Others can tell that we lack transparency —- the equivalent of musical harmonics. The reason we morph into someone we’re not is usually due to rejection by someone important to us. Feeling flawed and inappropriate, we become an imposter to make ourselves lovable. But others aren’t usually attracted to an inauthentic person. And how lonely is the one who feels they must hide their true self away behind a locked tower.

So today, be you. The original you that God created is breathtaking.

LIVING WATER

‘Oer mountains of man’s debris

There’s water for you and me

Living waters of love that freely flow

These waters refresh the soul

The troubled heart – they console

Let’s to these waters go.

CHORUS

Oh Living Water, where do you flow?

To man’s seas of emptiness, that he might know

That in this world of woe

Living water, here, can flow

There’s love for everyone who comes to Jesus.

For I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  Romans 9:3

This is a hypothetical cry but one made out of great momentary distress.  They were ‘words for the wind’ as Job put it.  Paul knew that it was theologically impossible for Him to make Paul a savior of the Jews.

It wasn’t the first time someone had made a request like that.  Moses did the same thing.  God was angry against His people because, even though He had just delivered them miraculously out of Egypt, they had collected gold throughout the camp and had made a golden calf to worship.  God was going to judge and wipe them out and start a new Jewish nation from Moses’ seed.  He would become a new “Abraham.”  What a promise.  A self-absorbed man might have jumped at the chance.  Moses didn’t.  He pleaded for the lives of his people even if it meant being blotted out of God’s book.

God turned down Moses just as He turned down Paul.  And He will turn me down when I am in such anguish over a loved one that I step in to rescue them.  There is only one Savior, one Deliverer.

 Our prayers of corporate repentance move the heart of God and bring revival and grace to those who don’t deserve it.  When a family bands together to pray for a lost father, or son, God hears and is moved.  But when those same family members rush in to rescue that loved one from the consequences of his choices, that interrupts God’s plan.

Because of my gift of mercy, I have attempted (in my immaturity) to get people out of pain.  If I loved them, I would do anything to see them spared.  I have learned the hard way that I only stood in the way of them coming to the end of themselves.  Pain was their friend, driving them to God and repentance.

God wouldn’t let Moses give his own life for the people.  Jesus did that.  But God did hear Moses’ cry and saved a remnant of the Jews.  He judged the rest; the remnant saw and believed.

God wouldn’t let Paul give his own life for the Jews either.  Jesus did that.  God heard Paul’s prayers and a remnant of Jews came to Christ because of his ministry.

God won’t let me be the savior of my people either.  Jesus is that!  He hears my prayers and moves in the hearts of His chosen ones.  I can be assured that the pain they suffer because of their lifetime of choices will be a saving pain.  God’s arms are ready to embrace them if the heat of His love and correction melts their stubborn rebellion.

Put a check on my gift of mercy, Lord.  Give me the grace of restraint.  Amen

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.  Isaiah 43:7

Oftentimes, the meaning of someone’s name holds great spiritual meaning.  It’s something we can grow into.  I believe God often handpicks names, especially if parents were prayerful.  Names so often seem to fit the child.

When Eve gave birth to her second child, he was named Abel. The meaning of his name suited his destiny. ‘Abel’ means ‘breath or vapor.’ As his life story unfolds, his life is brief, just a vapor. He is to be the first martyr for the Christian faith and will be remembered in the great hall of faith chapter in Hebrews.       

In a loving and stable home, a girl named ‘Joy’ will be a bubbly child, full of sunshine. A boy whose name means ‘man of faith’ will grow up to have spiritual grit.  He will go on to overcome daunting challenges. But if the home is a wasteland, filled with pain and destruction, Satan will ensure that the child grows up believing the exact opposite of his name. The girl named ‘Joy’ will be overtaken by depression. The boy whose name means ‘full of faith’ will face affliction that causes him to live in fear.

Can God change our story, our nature, and our name? Consider Naomi. Her name meant ‘pleasant and agreeable,’ and for a while, she probably was. Then her husband uprooted her and their two sons and moved them to Moab. Afterward, Naomi watched all three of them die. Her story took on bitter overtones, so much so that she renamed herself Mara, which means bitter. That wasn’t the end, however. God redeemed her name as well as her story. He used a Moabite woman, from a godless nation, to reanimate her mother-in-law. Ruth made one brave decision after another and, after marrying Boaz, filled both their futures with joyful laughter.

God is a God of new names. He gives a new identity to anyone willing to follow Him to the land of blessing. It’s not an easy journey, as it involves a complete shift in mindset. But great significance will come to those who believe that God will do it for them.

God, You can re-write the plot of anyone’s story at any time.  Anything tragic associated with my name can be transformed into something with holy meaning, filling my heart with joyful singing.  Amen

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”  I Peter 2:7-8

Jesus can sometimes be the One who makes me stumble. When my preconceived ideas of Him are shattered and He does not appear as I think He should, my ability to believe is tested to the core. I can be very opinionated about issues concerning Him; that He should deliver when He allows pain, provide comfort when He convicts, and intervene when He restrains Himself.

He can also offend me. His teachings often clash with my nature and default ways of thinking. When I believe I should take a certain course of action that seems right and sensible, He instructs me to go in what appears to be an opposite direction. When I feel I have reached a plateau, Jesus can deliver a blow with His words that makes me realize I’ve only just begun the journey.

It is easy to believe Him when my heart feels safe with Him and His teachings make sense to me. But what about the many days when He asks me to do something difficult, when following His lead feels unsafe and unwise? What then? Will I stumble and get offended, or work through my doubts to obey?

Stumbling is certainly a dynamic as I sort out Jesus’ chosen path for me.  While I don’t yet know all it entails, I am asking for the grace to hear and then obey.  Whether His call on my life makes sense or not is irrelevant.  Whether I am initially offended by what He suggests is also irrelevant.  When all is said and done, when the wrestling period is behind me, I am determined to follow His voice even into the face of a storm.

Unbelief is still a temptation.  Don’t let me stumble over You, butstand in You.  Plant my feet on every Word of Your mouth.  Amen