Barbara's Random Thoughts

Sometimes I get burned out on worship songs. I remember singing "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" at Forest Home in jr. high and loving it. But now, there's no worship song I can think of that's been sung further into the ground. I feel like "God of Wonders" and "Ancient of Days" are on their way to the same fate. Don't get me wrong, these are all great songs...the first 50 times you hear them. The next 500, not so much.

"Hungry" is one of those songs I got burned out on. Only with this particular song, the burning out occurred over the course of only 3 Sundays. I visited several different churches while I was in Denver for DPI, and every single church I visited sang this song. And they didn't just sing it once. They sang the chorus over...and over...and over...and over...ad nauseam.

I will wait...for You...
I will wait...for You...

Repeat that 20 times, and you get the idea. I was waiting, oh yes I was. I was waiting for them to stop repeating the chorus.

So when "Hungry" popped up on the PowerPoint yesterday in worship, I wasn't...shall we say...excited. But somehow, that song was what I needed to hear. (And we sang "I will wait for You" a reasonable number of times.)

Hungry, I come to You, for I know You satisfy
I am empty, but I know Your love does not run dry

I've been realizing lately that I've been looking to a lot of extraneous things to satisfy me, to fill my need for love, acceptance, approval, feelings of being wanted and valued. I know in my head that people will inevitably let me down at some point, but I still look to others or long for others to satisfy what only God can satisfy.

I give myself to what looks like love
and I sell myself for what feels like love
and I pay to get what is not love
and all just because I see things upside down
--Derek Webb

And God continually, faithfully lifts my eyes and reminds me that He is all I need. Sometimes He just has to repeat it a few times.