Unfallen Tears

I had the fantastic opportunity last night to see Casting Crowns live in concert in Brisbane. This has been their first trip to Australia, and their concert was awesome! If you are ever offered the chance to see them, even if you're not familiar with their music, I would highly recommend you go see them.

I love their music, although sometimes I think I become over-familiar with it, and it becomes less meaningful - just a beautiful collection of notes and rhyming phrases strung together. But last night I was really struck by the lyrics of "Does Anybody Hear Her?" Mark Hall was talking about the girl who inspired the story - a girl, only high school age, who came along to his youth group, only to be turned away by the judgemental attitudes of some of the Christians.

Part of it made me sad, thinking of not dissimilar moments in my own life, where I have struggled with throwing my self after the wrong things and with hypocrisy in the church. It made me want to cry, but I could not. The tears would not fall, because even as the sadness grew, so did the hope of the knowledge that my fate was not to keep wandering. God found me, and he drew me into a family of believers who accepted me just as I am, and even better, he accepted me into His family. Stains and all.

So if you are still wandering, keep seeking. Even if you've had bad experiences with the church before, keep trying. God is much bigger and much better than the church could even be. The church is just a imperfect pointer to a perfect God, who loves you.