“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back to her vineyards and will make her Valley of Anchor a door of hope.” -Hosea 2:14-15
I was listening to an online Christian radio station and for about ten minutes, a few songs played and ended, and then everything became silent for a few seconds only to be interrupted by the sounds of wind chimes as they slowly faded in. I wondered what had happened to the music, and then a man’s voice came in with the words, “I am the only one to blame for this. Somehow it all ends up the same. Soaring on the wings of selfish pride, I flew too high, and like Icharus, I collide with a world I’ve tried so hard to leave behind. To rid myself of all but love; to give and die.” I stopped dead in my tracks and ran to my computer to see who the artist that penned such honest lyrics was. It was a band called Jars of Clay, and the song was entitled “Worlds Apart.”
The song was about a person, a Christian that seemed to be trapped in a cycle of sin. He finds himself repeating the same sin over and over again and can’t seem to break free because of his own selfish pride. However as the song continues, the man comes to a bittersweet resolution when he pleads for God to take his world apart and start all over. He cries desperately to God to “…take my world apart…broken on my knees….it takes all I am to believe in the mercy that covers me…all I am for all you are because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart…take my world apart.”
So steal my heart and take the pain and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak, and all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
The sin-soaked heart and make it yours
Take my world all apart take it now, take it now, and serve the ones that I despise
Speak the words I can't deny
Watch the world I used to love fall to dust and thrown away…
Take my world apart.
The song reminded me of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Like He did with the Israelites and David, the Lord sometimes lays His heavy hand upon us to bring us to a place of brokenness and repentance so that He might forgive us and transform us into His likeness. (see Hosea 2:13-23)
Are you trapped in a cycle of sin or just a lackadaisical attitude about your walk with the Lord? I challenge you today to invite the Lord to take your world apart and break you so that He might build you back up into whatever He wants as a potter does with clay. This truly is a bittersweet plea because although brokenness hurts, with Christ, it brings about a sweet transformation. He gives us beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair! Will you let Him take your world apart today?
Grace and peace be with you.
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