Prologue
Flashback to 90s music. One song comes to mind – Amazed by Lonestar in 1999. Those who are 90s kids like me will relate. Those who don’t, please refer to Google. This was/is still a very popular wedding song because of its lyrics.
I have not heard this song for a long time and heard this on the radio the other day. This song is generally conceptualised as a love for and from one person to another (hence being very popular at weddings). But when I heard this recently, some of the lyricsreminded me of God andhow I can feel amazed by Him.
Opening verse
Lyrics:
Baby, when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
Now if you replace the word “Baby” with “God” this reads as “God, when you touch me”. You as a person can feel God when he touches you. This feeling is best described in the lyrics “And it just blows me away, I’ve never been this close to anyone or anything’. This is something I have experienced.
One good example is when you are prayed for by someone at church, and being in a Pentecostal church, we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the power of the Spirit just overcomes you, that you fall to the ground or just end up crying without any real reason.
The crying is an outward sign of God touching a human spirit. For me this crying is a sign of how much love God has for me and how I can feel it.
Chorus / Bridge
Lyrics:
I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you
These lyrics reminds me how big God is, how He controls the universe in such a way that we cannot understand sometimes. One bible verse Ecclesiastes 11 verse 5 puts its aptly - “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” Sometimes when good or bad things happen, I really don’t know what God is doing.
When good things do happen, and especially when I don’t expect it, I do get amazed by God. And these doesn’teven have to be a big event in my life, but the small things. Like a friend unexpectedly supporting you through a hard time, by not only praying for you but going the extra mile, by cooking dinner and being present at your house. These are little things that shows me how God constantly amazes.
And just like the line “It just keeps getting better” is what we Christians should aspire to. This is easier said than done when tough times hit, like a death in the family. We question how is this better? To be honest, we see death as the end of a life.
But another perspective maybe that death is just the beginning of a new chapter in life. Like a life in Heaven which the next two lines after this state “I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. Forever and ever”. This is me. I want to spend the rest of my life with Jesus Christ.
Epilogue
I don’t experience being amazed everyday. And I realise, whilst God may have promised in Jeremiah 29 verse 11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”; there are other bible verses which indicate as Christians we are not immune to ‘bad circumstances’. The verses Psalm 23 verse 4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” and all of the verses in James 1 from verses 2 to 18 talks about “trials and temptations”.
But through daily living, I know of God’s promises to the people who lived before me. Particularly if we look at the story of Noah, in Genesis 9verses 12 to 13 refers to a rainbow and its significance - “And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”.
Hence, when I see the rainbow in the sky, I am reminded of this promise and feel God continues to amaze me, regardless if I am having a bad day or not. Maybe next time you see a rainbow, this story would come to mind. Do me a favour – smile and be amazed by God.
Cindy Adwong lives and works in Auckland. My aim in life is to live life to the fullest daily. I love being effective and efficient in all I do. My hobbies include spending time with people, baking, cooking, travelling and just being alive, amongst numerous to name.