a new year

Early last month I downloaded Matt Wertz's album, Twenty Three Places, free from Noise Trade. For those unaware, Noise Trade is a legal site where you can download select artists for not cost. You can make a donation if you feel led, but the only real requirement is to advertise for Noise Trade on some sort of social media. I consider it a small price to pay for downloading free music without breaking the law. They have a variety of different styles and artists, many of whom are trying to make their way in the music industry. Feel free to check out Noise Trade for yourself.

Anyway one particular song of Matt Wertz's album is entitled All I Know. Give it a listen.

I find this song a fitting start for the new year. In 2011, God saw fit for me to begin my seminary education. Lord willing, 2012 will see the continuation of my education along with a number of other unknowns. Over the course of my first year I have found it to be somewhat difficult to keep the focus of my studies in the proper perspective. I lose sight of the fact that I am studying for the sole purpose of growing in my knowledge and love of God. Out of that growth, God will hopefully use me to better serve Him and others for the sake of the gospel.

Having said that, I also have a tendency to forget that what I already do know and love is enough for me to serve God and others now. I can grow frustrated when I feel as though I am not learning enough or growing at the rate I desire. I appreciate the words expressed in this song, because it calls me to remember what exactly it is that I know. My own sin and pain are not shocking, but God's continued outpouring of grace and healing continually are. And I pray what God has done (and still does) for me will be enough each day for me to press on.

Matt Wertz's song is a humble confession to press on in understanding the great complexities of our God. It expresses a yearning for more of Him. And yet it does so while acknowledging there is a great deal about God that we will never understand. Therefore, I treasure and value what God has made known to me, praise Him for what I still don't know, and trust that He will fill me in with more as He sees fit.