Livin' and Lovin' in A-town

Lifter of My Head

I don't normally write about emotional or spiritual things on my blog. I usually like to keep it to light-hearted stories, surveys, updates, movie critiques, etc. I guess today I feel different. I just thought I would share a moment from my day.

Have you ever had a moment where you're thinking about all the things you have to do, all the stresses of the day, all of your problems that you're currently dealing with, all of the things you worry about...and in one instant, all of that is taken away, you feel wrapped in a love much stronger than the problems you're analyzing, the stresses that are causing you to worry?

My office is in the concourse of a coliseum. In that coliseum, everyday at 11am, a chapel service is held. With around 2,500 people in attendance, the service generally involves a few songs, a prayer or two, a scripture reading, and a short devotional. My office is right by one of the entrances to the coliseum, so I can clearly hear everything, and I mean everything, that goes on in chapel. Not that this bothers me, but I generally try and tune out the noise while I'm working.

Today was different. I came back into my office from an appointment towards the end of chapel, so my first thought was "I'm not going to get too involved in a project because pretty soon I'll have 2,500 people walking by my office and I won't be able to focus." So, I sat down at my desk and started reading my to-do list. Then I started thinking about all of the things I had to do today, the rest of this week, this weekend, doctors visits, money, upcoming events...that feeling of tension began to rise and at that single moment when I almost felt overwhelmed, I heard a familiar song. It's a song they've sung in chapel for years...my friends and I sung that song in chapel, we've sung it at church and devos and it's always been one I've loved. But today was different. I heard the words "Thou oh Lord, are a shield about me. You're my glory, you're the lifter of my head. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, you're the lifter of my head." I heard nothing else, I felt nothing else but complete comfort and safety. As if someone was saying "Calm down, things are fine. None of that matters right now. I've got this."

I've got this.