Despite what our culture tells us, morality and God Himself are not found in shades of gray. Fiona shares.
“I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6a).
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
Singing years ago, I remember having drummed into me that diction was very important. If I was going to sing, people needed to understand the words I sang.
Looking back to that time I can see how even my spoken diction was a reflection of that teaching. “I talked proper!” Well I liked to think I did. Now I can see how I’ve become lazy in the way I enunciate my speech, not always finishing words crisply.
Words have always seemed important to me–so recognizing that is hard in some ways, because I am not treating those words I appreciate with proper respect.
In church recently we were singing the song, “How Great Is Our God”*, but as I listened to the often unclear diction, it was sounding a little more like “how grey is our God.”
I smiled to myself as my singing teachers (in my head) were reprimanding us so strongly!
Then I began to think about how untrue that is.
God isn’t grey–not some wishy-washy excuse for sitting on the fence and being neither black or white.
I always valued the teaching we had in our church when I was a young person. We had instilled in us how much God loved us. But we were also told–in black and white–what God expected of us and what wasn’t acceptable behavior in His sight. I know that wasn’t the case for many others in my generation.
We have a still small voice in our heads–guiding, comforting, directing, offering insight and wisdom, teaching–the black and white in our lives–that’s God.
Life may be grey for some and maybe political correctness is making things far less black and white–but God doesn’t change.
God is great and He is our God.
Prayer: Father God, You are great–not grey! We thank You for Your Word that sets out what You require of us and for Your still small voice that guides us when we need to know what we should do. When our lives feel very grey because of illness, help us to know that they can still be great, in relationship with You. Amen.
About the Author:
Fiona Burrows lives in Melbourne, Australia. She is thankful that God walks each step of her life with her, and that He continues to teach her new things as she learns to live with chronic back pain. She enjoys finding time for reading, writing, and photography, and to share those things with others. She has been writing devotionals for Rest Ministries for a number of years. You can contact her at godspromptingtowrite@gmail.com.
When pain or sickness clouds your life making it seem very grey–does God stand out as being anything but grey?
Can you sing with me, “How GREAT Is Our God” with Chris Tomlin?
Fiona, I love your testimony here. You are sooo right. God is NOT in various shades of gray. His Word and trurths are specifically written that we may understand clearly how He desires for us to live our lives, walking with Him.
Though He graciously is very forgiving when we loose sight of those lines, and in our own flesh smudge and smear the canvas of our lives, making them less defined. How blessed we are to have a Savior so gloriously defined.
Thank you for sharing this my friend, reminding me not to smudge my canvas too much!!
Blessings, Di
Thanks Di – glad you found this helpful. I love the artist’s idea you shared too on not smudging the canvas of our lives – thanks for that!
Blessings dear friend ☺
Fiona
Oh, I smiled reading this Fiona! 🙂
Like you, I was taught to sing with good diction. As the singing leader at church I was often talking about how we need to enunciate words correctly or there can be some warped new meanings! I really smiled about hearing the change of meaning with “How Great Is Our God” enunciated poorly! What an awful change of meaning it creates!! God sure ISN’T grey!! Thank goodness we have a God who is far from grey!
Interesting that the “t” is at the end of that word, which is the shape of the cross. Our whole culture is leaving out the cross & the significance of it. When that happens everything does turn to grey! God bless. LOTSoluv Kerryn
Glad you got a smile out of this Kerryn 🙂
I was shocked too at what an awful contrast there was between great and grey and wondered how many people would even notice it.
So true about “leaving the cross (or t) out of our culture” – it’s so sad to see it happening and not enough people noticing the grey creeping in. Praying we can continue to speak and enunciate our faith clearly, in whatever ways God asks us too.
Blessings dear friend,
Fiona
🙂 LOTSoluv Kerryn