How Great Thou Art

I am getting out of order a bit with this entry, but I think that sometimes it is crucial to write about things while they are very fresh in our minds, so here it goes. . .

I was in Brazil for a missionary retreat. At worship we had sung "How Great Thou Art" and the music filled the room. I have always loved that song. As we sang I had beautiful images dancing through my head. Forests, flowers, trees, brooks, mountains, ocean, etc. . . the beauty of God's creation. I sang with all my heart. With those images in my mind how could I help but sing, "How great Thou art".

Later in the service there was a call to a prayer of intersession for the people of Haiti. As we prayed together, I heard the song "How Great Thou Art" echoing in my mind, as I saw mental pictures of all of the horrors I had seen in Haiti over the past few months. With those images in my mind and the words, "Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. . ." going through my soul, I could feel God reminding me that He is God and He is still great in the midst of all the pain and disasters as well as in the beautiful moments of my life.

My eyes flooded with tears and it was almost painful for me to allow the words to the song and those images coexist in my mind, but there is deep truth in the fact that they do coexist in this world.

God, you are God and I praise You as God in the midst of the beauty my eyes have seen, and God, I praise you and recognize you as my God even as I witness things that break my heart. Our circumstances change, but in the midst of it all, you are God and you alone are great and worthy.