Matt Maher made me think

Two Saturdays ago (February 18th) I went with a bunch of other people up to a birthday party, followed by a very long car ride down to the Underground and a Matt Maher Concert. I thought I was tired after waiting an hour and a half for Matt Maher to show up, until he finally did, and told how he had to fly from Maryland to Arizona, missed his flight, then went up to Vancouver, to Chicago, and then here. It had been a very long 36 hours for the poor man. I didn't feel so tired anymore.

So he started out, as usual, with the peaceful yet exhilarating song Alive Again, and the concert get underway. In the middle he talked a bit before playing another one of his songs- I forget what it was called but it was pertinent to his talk beforehand. He told about how his little boy, 6 months old, would cry persistently at night whenever he was hungry, as most little kids do. So one night, Matt got up to feed him a bottle, and by the time he got over the poor kid almost had a meltdown. But when he finally held him and gave him that bottle, he stopped crying. Not only that, the little boy's eyes were locked on his dad's, and he grabbed one of his fingers with his little hand and wouldn't let go.

Matt asked, why can't we be like that with God? We are supposed to be children of God, we need to let Him know when we need Him. Instead of crying out in the night, why do we wait and go to him last? And when we finally get to Him, why do simply dump all our problems and wants on Him like we would crab about to a friend, instead of running ecstatically up to give Him a hug like a little child? Why don't we let Him hold us, feed us His grace in silence, and lock our eyes into His? In conclusion he said a very profound thing, that I had heard but didn't really understand before - that it is better to need God than to want Him. If all do feel is to want Him, it is the equivalent of wanting some kind of sweet, but if we need Him, it is like we are starving and will do anything to get to Him because we need God.

I always love how the little kids come up to me after Church or at co-op and yell "ROSE!!!" and then nearly knock me over because they grab my legs so hard. After they hug me hard, they always look up to see if I will smile, give my approval, or hug them back. They don't even talk to me, but just be there. Why don't I run up to God, hug him, and just rest in his gaze? I would think God would really appreciate such innocent enthusiasm too.

So now I can finally put to word that we need God as much as we need oxygen, that we literally can't do anything by ourselves. All our talents that we think are ours are like money given to kids from their parents - it's their parent's money, not theirs. You were born with whatever talents you have, no more, no less. Did you influence the way or place where you were born? If you did I would be very interested in how you did it. Why then to I take pride in having a good voice? Or getting good grades? Or being a kind, outgoing person? It's actually ridiculous if you think about it. Anything we do, anything, you name it, is only done through God and because of Him. That is why we need God. I had definitely known that fact before, but could never quite describe it. But that's ok, because Matt Maher described it for me. :)