It Ain’t Easy Being Deep

I stood alone in a room full of thousands with David Crowder on the stage.

While singing along to a familiar tune, I was struck – almost tangibly – with the strong impression to be silent and listen.

I heard the music in layers, and it felt as if the familiar, easy topcoat of melody was actually pulled back or stripped away to reveal something deeper. With eyes squeezed shut, I tuned in to the beat of the drum and felt as if God was pointing it out to me…

Hear that? Steady. Like a heartbeat. Making the melody possible. Keeping all of the other parts in sync.

Melody is easy for me. I guess it’s the easiest part of music for most of us. It’s what we sing when we join in with the radio or sing solo in the shower. It’s the part that gets stuck in our heads. It’s what everyone around me was singing as Crowder crooned that beloved tune.

But there is more going on here than melody. There is harmony. There is bass and beat.

I don’t usually think twice about singing along to familiar songs, but in those moments of purposeful restraint, I heard God whisper, “I didn’t call you to easy; I called you to deeply.”

Impressions of holiness – and these actual words – were left on me in those moments.

Listening is beautiful. And necessary for those who dream God’s dreams.

Listen.
Look deeper.
Don’t be so quick to sing along.

There are answers in the mix, and there is holiness and presence that you will never see – or hear – when you default to easy.

There is nothing canned, nothing stock, nothing same ol’ about the work that God is doing – and calling you to step into today.

It’s worth the discipline of looking past easy into deeply because you will find God there.
You’ll find His will there.
You’ll see yourself there…

Hear that?