MANY vs. ONE

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

Over the past several months I have had MANY different thoughts on my mind… competing for space, time and energy (and sleep). Between Britany’s health, family issues, our “job” and general life I have had more than my share of competing voices. As time has gone on I have learned MANY things about my own weaknesses and strengths, our family’s weaknesses and strengths, and a few of the purposes behind this journey God has us on. This has led to MANY questions, which have in turn led to MANY more internal conversations, and the “MANY” cycle continues.

Recently a friend of mine (thank you Pastor Andy) introduced me to a song by Jeremy Riddle called Sweetly Broken, from his album Full Attention. The opening lines to the song are:

to the cross I look... and to the cross I cling... of it's suffering I do drink... of it's work I do sing...

I have to confess, I have listened to those lines probably a hundred times… over and over. This is something I have not done since I was in high school or college but alas I am drawn to them and hit the repeat button again. Now, I am not much for “tic-tac” theology, but this ONE idea has been reaching deeply into my soul… filling an emptiness that I have been feeling for a while as I have wrestled over MANY of these important internal conversations… Jesus Christ… crucified.

What do you do when you have no answers to so MANY questions... when you can’t switch your brain off? I think Paul (and Jeremy) might have it. You resolve to know ONE thing… “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” No more fancy words. No more unspoken conversations. In the midst of what feels like a storm of weakness, fear and answerless questions I need a lifeline to save me from drowning in my own head. Right now I need ONE thing to make sense of the many… to add perspective in the struggle… to create peace in the midst of the unknown. It sounds simplistic I know, but nevertheless:

to the cross I look... and to the cross I cling... of it's suffering I do drink... of it's work I do sing...

Thank you Jesus.