“Finally” by Gary Chapman
I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be
When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally
The day to day just keeps on spinning round
But this one thing I have found
I can close my eyes and be there in Your arms
You take me to a place that’s safe and warm
You’re my harbor in the storm
Wanna lose myself in being there with You
When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally
Oh, when finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and the love in Your heart cut right through to me
And my eyes can see finally
Source: LyricFind
Dear God, sometimes I wake up with a song in my head and I have no idea where it came from. This one from this morning, “Finally” by Gary Chapman, is a deep cut. Of course, I heard it when I was a kid sung by T.G. Sheppard. Years later, however, I worked for a Christian music publisher called Word that distributed the song’s writer, Gary Chapman, and found this song on his first album, Everyday Man. It was then I realized it was one of those could be a song about love/could be a song about God songs that were pretty prevalent in Christian music in the 80s and 90s. So I heard it in a different way.
With that said, since I woke up with it in my head this morning, and even though I am sure I’ve probably prayed through this song before, I thought I would spend some time with again this morning.
I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be
Wasting time. Oh, how much time do I waste a day? Each day? Every day?!? It’s a lot. It can be so much easier to settle into watching something on a screen that it is to do something constructive that requires brain power, physical power, and conscious effort. It’s easier to just “veg.” I listened to the Russell Moore Podcast this week. It was an interview with Carlos Whittaker about his technology detoxing experience. He said his phone told him he was spending 7 hours per day on the phone. 49 hours per week. 2,500 hours per year. A full-time 40-hour per week job is 2,080 hours, so it was a lot. Therefore, he decided to try something different. He went to a monastery and spent either 21 or 23 hours per day in silence for 9 weeks. Then he went and hung out with the Amish. To some extent he rediscovered himself. Going back to the 1950s, I would say the introduction of screens into our lives has definitely shaped who we are as humans. I spent so much time watching TV as a kid. And while I don’t watch my actual living room television much anymore except for live sports, the little screen that fits in my hand has successfully replaced it effectively.
I say all of that because, even though Chapman wrote this in 1982 (I think I heard him say that in an interview), before there were cell phones and even very many personal computers, he was still finding plenty of things that would take him away from you. People always have throughout the centuries. We don’t need cell phones and the Internet to lure us away. As the hymnist wrote in “Come Thou Fount,” “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” It’s who we are.
Back at Lent I purposed in my heart that I was going to make this time praying to you a priority in my life. I would spend some time every day journaling my a prayer to you. Now, I’ve decided it is part of what I must do to function. I need you. Because when I show up here I am able to see you and a reflection of you in me. I hear from your Holy Spirit. I am convicted of sin. I am inspired and instructed by the Holy Scripture you left for me to use to help me find you. And the reason I know you are a loving God is because the closer I get to you the more loving I become. The reason I know you are forgiving is because the closer I get to you the more forgiving I become.
Father, well, I’m not even sure how to pray about this. According to Whittaker, even the Amish are seeing technology like computer and flip phones enter their world because they have to use them to conduct business with the outside world. And if I think about getting a flip phone I start to wonder about texting and the apps I use to even conduct business during the day. So help me find my way in all of this. Help me glorify you in my life. Help me to not miss the opportunities you have for me to love and serve you and love and serve others.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 