God's creation is amazing....O.k. understatement there. God's creation is mind boggling at times. Such a simple thing happened to me last night that totally caught me off guard. I was driving from the church to home, taking my usual route. I like driving down Broad Street all the way to I-59. As I topped the overpass where the Steel Plant use to be, a song came on my radio.
Yep. I'm an old guy and I still like my radio local, so I usually have it set to WGAD because it is an oldies station. Being an "oldie" myself, I like what comes out of that radio. Anywho, I digress. Suddenly my car was filled with the sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revival and "Who'll Stop The Rain". Now I've heard that song more times than I could count. I have played as a member of a cover band back in the early 1970's. But tonight was different.
With the opening guitar hook, in my mind I was at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. I could see the radio that I had bought at the PX so I could listen to local stations on the weekend. I'm sitting on my bunk, it was a Sunday morning and this song was playing. As I continued driving to home, a big smile broke out and the memories were sweet. Well, as sweet as memories could be if you were in AIT after having gone through basic. Tied to this song were glimpses in my mind of guys who were in my platoon. Gary Burttram, Daryl Blanton, Ronald and Donald Jones...on an on the faces came to me. Of course the faces were from 1970 not 2021.
Now why would I write about this? Because of the power of music to stir us to remember. The ability of a song to take us to a time or place we may not have thought about or even considered in a long time. Going back to God and His creation that I mentioned at the start of this post. How amazing is it that God created us to have memories....good and bad. To bask in the good ones, and learn from the bad ones. I am firmly convinced that when we come to Christ and surrender will and life, He takes the pain away from the bad memories. Those which, in the past, would fill us with guilt and shame. It would be nice if He simply removed the bad memories, but He doesn't. But what He does do is frame them in such a way that when they do come to us, the pain, guilt and shame are not as evident. He reminds us that we are forgiven. Why should I hang on to the junk of my bad memories if God isn't going to remember them?
So the next time you in a gathering of people who have come together to worship God, let the songs direct your memory to all the good God has done to you, for you, and through you. Let the words and the tune take you back to your first love. Remember God! Remember what it felt like when He saved you. Remember those times where you were faced with situations and He came to comfort you and walk you through them. Let the memories come~
God on you...
mbb
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