Nemesis

Pops came in town the other night and we went to the David Gray concert. And that little English man rocked the freaking house! It was probably one of the better live performances that I have ever seen and I'm pretty sure that Melanie would tell you the same....though this was only her 3rd concert experience (the other 2 were NSync and John Mayer). We went to Pappadeaux before to get some crawfish and had great seats about 12 rows from the stage. Toward the end of the concert, Mr. Gray played one of his new songs called "Nemesis." Out of all the songs, this particular one stuck out to me. While watching him sing, you could see the passion and the hurt in his face. He no doubt felt this one more than all of the others that he sang, and it was a weird moment for me. The Spirit inside me grieved for this man, because you could see the absolute pain and frustration in him that comes along with living life. And I was reassured and confident in what God is doing in this world through pain, frustration and sorrow. But I don't think Gray is a believer, and I say that because one of his other songs starts out with this line:

"Maybe that it would do me good
If I believed there were a god
Out in the starry filmament
But as it is that's just a lie
And I'm here eating up the boredom
On an island of cement."

So as I listened to the song "Nemesis," I was reminded of how blessed that I am to have the hope that God has put in me through Christ that yes, the world is going to war against me and there is no doubt going to be pain.....but its so temporary. Its a vapor compared to the weight of eternity, which I get to spend in neverending joy. Here are the lyrics to "Nemesis."

'Neath an avalanche - soft as moss

I'm a creeping and intangible sense of loss

I'm the memory you can't get out your head

If I leave you now

You'll wish you were somewhere else instead


I'm the manta ray - I'm the louse

I am a photograph they found in your burned out house

I'm the sound of money washing down the drain

I am the pack of lies baby that keeps you sane


Gates of Heaven are open wide

God help me baby I'm trapped inside

Feel like I'm buried alive


I'm the bottom line - of the joke

I am ecstasy - spilling like bright egg yolk

I'm the thoughts you're too ashamed to ever share

And I am the smell of it - you're trying to wash out of you hair


Gates of Heaven are open wide

God help me baby I'm lost inside

Feel like I'm buried alive


Possibilities limitless

Just give me something that's more than this

One shot and I'll never miss

yes


I'm the babe that sleeps through the blitz

I am a sudden and quite unexpected twist

I am your one true love who sleeps with someone else

I am your nemesis

Baby I'm life sweet life itself

The first thing I thought about when I heard this song was the fall of man. Adam and Eve are grubbin on the forbidden fruit and realize they're naked and try to cover themselves up and hide from God. God strolls though and confronts Adam and Eve and tells Adam this,

"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return

Its a fact of life. What was once rythmic and beautiful before the fall of man is now chaos and constantly warring against us. And if you don't know the merciful God who is reconciling all things to Himself through His Son, then of course you are going to be hopeless, confused, frusterated and bitter. We don't "grieve as those who have no hope," because we know that but we can "rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

So, my heart is heavy for ol David Gray and the majority of the people here on earth that hold onto all of that hurt without any hope. Its a strange feeling knowing that some people will never grasp this truth while it is the very thing that I base my life on. The only hope that I have. So, today if you are a Christian, be thankful that you aren't without hope. That any trial you are going through is to sharpen your faith. That God is with you. And if you aren't, trust Him. Search for Him. Ask questions about Him. Find out what He says about Himself. Its the most important thing you'll ever do.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
-Romans 5:1-2

Jake