God used Pearl Jam

Earlier on a paticular day, I was speaking with a friend about our past.  Nothing spiritual or out of the ordinary, just a couple of guys talking.  Now, ever since I have been saved, I can't stop listening to Christian music.  To some, this is kind of weird.  Even to some of my Christian friends, but I just love listening to music that sings about God.  The genre of music, the style, the beat, rhythm, the details of how the music is played, sung or performed takes a back seat to the content of the lyrics.  Now don't misunderstand me, I do listen to music that does not have a Christian message.  Music that I like that isn't harsh or bad for me to hear.  Often,  I'm the type of guy that is completely content just sitting in the car with no sound, music or radio at all.  It's not that often I get to sit in a nice silence, but that's not the reason why I love the silence.  I was always that way.  

So mid afternoon one day, years back, (maybe July or August 2014) I'm talking with a buddy and he mentions Pearl Jam. I tell him that if he never brought up this band, I would have probably never thought of them ever again.  Unless someone else brought them up in a conversation,  I would have never thought of them.  I used to love listening to Pearl Jam so now I'm thinking back and reminiscing.  I have never seen them live but I have many memories tied to Eddie's voice.  I'm sure I would have even more memories had I not lived the life I once did.  So in this normal conversation that took place there was nothing that stood out.  There was nothing meaningful,  just two guys talking about something and Pearl Jam happen to come up for a brief second.

There is one more detail about this story which help it all snap together.  At this time of my life, I was feeling pretty discontent about what was going on.  I think of Paul's words, where he says that God has taught him to be content in every situation he was in....even in prison.  Geez I can be a super slow learner, but God is also so patient with me.  It's unbelievable.  This story is significant in my journey and has had a huge effect on my perspective.  It will be good for me to read this over the years so I remember.   I remember much of my prayer life being kind of whiny.  Always addressing what I "needed" (or thought I needed).

So a short time later, after speaking with my buddy,  I was having one of these self pity moments of prayer and thought.  I was driving down Lee street on a day with perfect weather.  My arm was hanging out the window and the sun shining beautifully.  I hit a red light in the right lane. So the light was stale red and a car pulled up to my left.  There wasn't a complete stop, and as the light turned green, the car just kind of rolled on and drove away.  The car was next to me for only a few seconds, enough for me to hear Pearl Jam and only one portion of lyrics that went on to say "my cups already overflowed".   This is a popular song and a well known lyric.

Well, I want to take a second here and address the sovereignty of God.  All followers of Christ (myself included) will say they believe God is sovereign.  But when we look at the way we worry, the way we act, the way we live, it's as if we don't fully believe that.  This is a good reminder that God.....sovereign God,  is truly sovereign.  In other words, there is nothing out of His control.  He knew I would hear that portion of that song and those lyrics and that specific few seconds.  He knew I would note earlier in the day that I haven't thought about Pearl jam in years.  He knew that I would hear Eddie sing that his cup is already overly full, and despite what he meant by those lyrics, it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. In that moment I would realize and not only hear God speaking to me, but hear myself and what I sound like.  See, I fell into a trap.  I was always looking at what would make life more comfortable.  More convenient.  I was always looking the things that others had and that I did not have.  What was i doing?    Changing perspective and seeing what I've inherited in terms of eternity utterly dwarfs anything or any level of comfort or convenience that is on this earth.  And how about that?  Let's look at what I have on this earth-  far more than 99% of the planet.  I was always so focused on things here.... and not our true home.  God is good to speak to me in this way at this time and remind me, we are beyond blessed.