Monday, September 26, 2011

Unending Love, Amazing Grace

My chains are gone. I’ve been set free,
my God, my Saviour has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy reigns,
Unending love, Amazing grace.
From the song “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
By J. Newton, J. Rees, E. Excell, C. Tomlin, and L. Giglio
On Wednesday last week, I spent a good chunk of the day just being quiet. I also spent some time praying. By the time I was writing on my journal what I sensed the Lord was telling me, I knew that I was feeling inadequate in all areas of my life. I just felt like I was not doing anything well. By then I had my iPhone on and had it on shuffle (a feature that randomly chooses the songs it plays from a collection of songs selected). The playlist (or collection of songs) I picked then had 622 songs. I calculated that if each song played for three and a half minutes each, it’d take me 36 hours, or a day and a half to finish listening to all the songs once. I explained that because what happened truly BAFFLES me. I am convinced that my phone is possessed by the Holy Spirit! I should point out that my first phone was a gift but I lost it in the airport in South Korea. A friend in Korea then gave me this phone I’m using, as a Christmas gift last year. These events were narrated in "Lost and Found", "I'd Rather Have You" and "Living Right" (1-15 December 2010 postings). It arrived on Valentine’s Day and was hand delivered to me by my friend Grace ("Grace Came", February 15, 2011 posting). All to say that having this phone in the first place is only because of God’s grace. Maybe it’s why the Lord keeps using it to speak to me; this way I won't ever forget.

As I began writing, the song “Amazing Grace” played. It is impossible but it played three times! I investigated and found that I actually listened for a total of 37 minutes. The first time it played, I didn't think much of it. Different songs were playing “randomly”. In my mind, I just thought, “YES, (grace) that’s exactly what I need”. Minutes later though, I heard the “Amazing Grace” song by Chris Tomlin and others, not once, but TWO MORE TIMES! Because it played a third time, I knew it played for a reason. It was obvious that the Lord was telling me that His grace was sufficient for me. I was deeply touched and crying. How DOES He do it? I checked to see – in case I was dazed for some reason – by looking at all the songs that played. There it was, “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” listed twice, only separated by another song labelled “Track 03”. Three, is our Lord’s number to me ("March 3rd", March 9, 2011 posting). Just in case I wasn’t getting it with the repetitive song playing (I could be truly slow =D), Papa God signed it.

I should explain that there are some songs duplicated on my playlist. Chris Tomlin's song is one of those songs. I also have an older version of "Amazing Grace" sung by another group. So yes, I do have 3 copies of the song but the fact that all three played on the same 37-minute session is NOT probable. Today, I drove Eric to Kingston (almost six hours of driving) and I listened for at least two hours (same playlist on shuffle) but I didn't hear the song play even once. On shuffle, I may will a song to play, but it won't. It's obviously not a problem for God, though. He's TOO GOOD. Nothing is impossible for Him!

Thank you, Lord, your unending love and grace is unfathomable and incomprehensible. It truly boggles the mind. As I’ve been pondering what happened since Wednesday, I sat at the church service this morning and what do you know, there it was again! Even as I thanked the Lord for who He is and what He does, the same song above was sung. Such grace, such love, how can I not LOVE Him back?

No comments:

Post a Comment