I remember it like it was yesterday. How exciting it was when my dad brought home our first color television set! To see the characters come alive in bright blues, greens, reds and yellows was incredible. It changed the whole television experience from the black and white we had known, to amazing Technicolor. Can you imagine how different watching the Wizard of Oz would have been without the transition from the black and white of Kansas, to the vibrant colors in the Land of the Munchkins?
For many years, I heard it said of God, that He was black and white. I believed what I was told and even preached it myself. Until, I had an encounter with a multi-colored God. How could I believe that He was black and white when all the evidence pointed to the contrary? He created this world with every color imaginable. Have you noticed the variety of colors in the flowers? What about a rainbow after a refreshing thunderstorm? I am not sure Noah would have been near as impressed if God presented His promise in a rainbow void of color. God even created people in different colors; Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world. He recently revealed himself in color to me again. I was having a blah day and the only thing I could think my heart wanted to do, was play the piano. My daughter was asleep, so I had to wait until the evening, when finally I sat down at the keys to play. I started to turn the pages of my worship song book, when I heard the Lord say, “Play Colors of the Wind.”
“What? You would rather hear Disney than a worship song?”
“I know how much you enjoy playing it, so play it for Me.”
I know His voice, so I played it. I also played several other songs that were not in the worship repertoire. I enjoyed it and to sense His pleasure was the best part. It reminded me of the phrase from Chariots of Fire, where Eric Liddell said he felt God’s pleasure when he ran. That always touched me, because Eric was also a missionary and yet the part of his life that seemed to pleasure the Lord the most, was when he ran. Who would have guessed?
To believe that God would choose the least spiritual way is not the way we are usually brought up to think. I grew up in a Lutheran church and if you know anything about it, you know that their services are very predictable. There is hymnal singing, standing, sitting, kneeling all in a prescribed order, the liturgy, which when you are a little kid, feels like it goes on forever, and the message is even longer than the liturgy. Oh and you had better behave because this is after all, God’s house and He doesn’t like it when kids squirm or make noise. Good luck with that. Like He didn’t know He created us with ants in our pants. Well, then I moved on, to what felt like a major graduation into the Charismatic Church. It just sounds more exciting to say. At least it did for the first two decades and then again it seemed like everything fit in a tidy, repetitious little box. I couldn’t take it anymore. I told the Lord that if this is all there is; then this is not ok. Hopefully He was laughing, as I tried to tell the King of the entire universe, He was boring. Did I just say that? I didn’t use those exact words, but in essence that is what I meant. From here the Lord took me on a journey that ended with my office being decorated with Lord of the Rings. He used several unexpected sources to speak to my heart about his unending creativity; which is anything but boring. He also caused me to see, in the tiniest of measure, the vastness of our amazing God. Now I actively look to see Him and hear Him in any way He desires. I love to hear Him speak to me as I sit in a movie theater or as I read a novel or listen to a podcast or maybe it comes directly from His Word. I love it! Whatever way He way He chooses, only proves once again, that He truly is all the Colors of the Wind.
