Clouds Can't Bring Me Down!

This morning, I really didn't want to get out of bed. It's sad to admit, because I'm generally a morning person. Today I didn't want to wake up. But there was something making me put my feet on the ground, and that something was the prospect of re-visiting the Eglise Evangelique Baptiste on rue de Sevres. I was surprised even that I not only made it but I was only 5 minutes late!

When I arrived, the first thing we did was sing one of my favorite worship songs: "Shout to the Lord." If you have never heard it, look it up! There are countless versions of it (by now, it's kind of an old chorus), but I think that the French version has something for me the English version lacks. It's pure poetry! Here are the words, and even if you can't read it, you can still appreciate it's aesthetic purity.

Oh ! Jésus, mon Sauveur,

Seigneur, nul n’est comme toi.

Jour après jour je te louerai

Car ton amour est merveilleux.

Mon abri, mon refuge,

Mon réconfort, mon rocher.

Tout ce qui vit, ce que je suis,

Ne cesse de t’adorer.

Chante au Seigneur, crie de joie

Terre entière.

À Dieu la gloire, la puissance et l’honneur ;

Les monts s’inclinent et les flots rugissent

À l’écho de ton nom.

Je vois tes œuvres et mon cœur crie de joie.

Je t’aimerai, je tiendrai par la foi.

Rien ne pourrait égaler tes promesses pour moi.

Even now, I'm smiling just singing it to myself!

I was blessed as soon as I stepped foot in the room. Then we studied in Mark 5:21-34, when a woman touches the hem of Jesus's robe so that He will heal her. The teacher remarked on something very poignant about this passage that we should all remember: this woman came to Jesus because she had heard the rumors of what He had done in someone else's life. Not only that, she pushed beyond the limits of her physical limitations and beyond her status in society. Because of that persistent faith, she was healed. Jesus restored to her the status of humanity gave her a family with God. 

The personal application is that we should be that close to the Lord that people are always talking about Jesus and the miracles He has done in our lives. If He hasn't been present in your life lately, that's probably because you weren't looking for Him. We often miss the opportunities for miracles because we fail to recognize miracles in the ordinary things. Every day that I wake up is a miracle; every second I take a breath because Jesus paid for my breath. I will never step outside these four walls with a frown on my face and paranoia in my brain. It's impossible to fear when you know that the power that raised Christ from the dead is in you (Romans 8:11).

Cloudy day in Paris? No problem. All I see is beautiful.