Finals Week Faith (Day 2)

Today was my Japanese final exam and it went superbly well! One down, two to go! The theme of light has been sticking with me, so I think I'll talk about that again today.

Psalm 34:5 and "More"

They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed (KJV)/
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame (NIV)

"I see something in you."
"There's something about you, I just can't put my finger on it..."

You've had people say this to you before, right? I know it's a bad habit, but I tend to dismiss compliments, especially those. Pssshh. Last time I checked, you couldn't see the future, nor do you have x-ray vision. I look at myself everyday, and I have yet to see whatever it is you think you see in me. But these days I'm realizing that there really could be something there. People of God, who keep their hopes in Him and look to Him in times of trouble, have something in them. Light, love, anointing, whatever you want to call it... it's something. And that something radiates outward, so that people can't help but see it and be drawn to you. That is so awesome, isn't it? God is the continual source of this radiance, so remember to keep your head up and look to him.

However, sometimes we stifle this radiance even though we don't mean to. "More" by Lawrence Flowers & Intercession is a reminder of this.This song always helps me focus. Near the end of last semester I was spending 6-12 hours a week in the library, I had that much to do. While I worked I just played this song over and over, and it would put me at such great ease. Oh the worshipper in me wants to break free from the intellectual mentality. That line gets me every time.

Now, I know it's ironic that the idea of breaking free from intellectuality encourages me to do well on final exams and projects. The only way I can explain it is that it reminds me that there is so much more to life than exams. Furthermore there's so much more to me than my ability to pass an exam, so there is no need to stress over it. Instead, I should channel that energy into figuring what I can do more for God. This song's message is that there is so much inside of us that wants to be released, if only we could be free of all the many "things" that are distracting us. That message makes this my favorite study song.

Now that I think about it the songs and verses would probably have matched better if I'd switched the songs, doing "More" yesterday and "Shine" today. But this is the order in which they came to me, so here you have it.