Friday, July 22, 2011

The Last Thing You Expected...

Hahahahahahahah, didn't see that one coming, did you?
While this song is a little old for me - it came out 5 years before I was even born, maybe that'll make some of you feel nice and old - I, along with millions of others, have come to know of it through the beautiful prank known as "Rick Rolling," what I have just (maybe!) done to some of you. It started out as a number one hit in the United Kingdom, where Rick Astley is from. It soon escalated to the United States, where within years it became a classic. It's now a classic prank on the internet, where a simple link which is supposed to take you to some video of your choosing instead takes you to this video.
For as ridiculous as it is, this song has some pretty legit lyrics. Take the chorus for example:
"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you."
Obviously, Astley's promising someone that he's pretty much never going to leave them, hurt them, or disappoint them. That's a pretty big promise to make, don't you think? I mean, I've promised the same things before, and unfortunately I've had to break some of those promises, just like others have made and broken the same ones to me. You may mean it when you say it, but more often than not, something goes wrong and the promise is broken.
That happens a lot though, don't you think? We're only human, and as hard as we try, we're going to do things we said we wouldn't. We're going to make someone cry even though we tried our hardest not to. We may have to leave someone for their own good, for our own good, or for other reasons we can't control. All of these lyrics seem ideal, but, at the end of the day, they can be darn near impossible for anyone.
Anyone, that is, except God.
"And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:20
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." - Deuteronomy 31:8
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5
"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you.'" - Isaiah 41:13
...do I have to spell it out for you some more, or do you catch my drift?
God has promised each of us dozens of times that He will never leave us nor forsake us. God's not giving us up, or letting us down, or deserting us. God also says in the Bible how He has plans for us to give us each hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11, if you're wondering!)
I'm sure if you searched you could find a verse for just about every promise mentioned! Isn't that pretty amazing? It's like God's personal song right to you, written down thousands of years ago for you to enjoy anytime.
So, here's your NR challenge for this post. I challenge you to read God's love song to you - the Bible - and memorize these promises for yourself. God's never gonna give you up, or let you down. He's never gonna run around or desert you. He may make you cry, but He has plans for you which will make tears of joy rather than sadness run down your face! He's never going to say goodbye to you, and He would never tell you a lie to hurt you. Rather, God wants an intimate relationship with you, so He can tell you personally every day and in every way possible that He isn't going anywhere - as long as you let Him stay with you.
Pearl Bailey, an actress and singer, once said it best:
"People see God every day, they just  don't recognize him."
You have to be willing to pay attention, open your eyes, and see that God is always at your side.
Are you in?


-Kimber.

No comments:

Post a Comment