My Daily Bible Blog

For the past week now I've been waking up with the song "More Than Words" by Extreme stuck in my head. The first time I remember hearing the song was when driving with my friend Scott in Tacoma after going out one night. He threw in a CD that had the song on it, and I remember thinking, "I know this song. I've heard it before." But I couldn't place it. And I still can't. It was a strange feeling.



It was heralded by my friends in the car (most of whom were girls) as "such a great love song" and one that "makes your heart skip a beat when you hear it." Musically it's beautiful, and the harmonies are amazing, but the only lyrics I could readily remember were tiny parts from the chorus: "More than words . . . then you wouldn't have to say 'I love you' because I'd already know." I made up my mind then and there that I would learn to play it.



I took it upon myself to figure it out while I was deployed, so I a few weeks into the deployment I downloaded the lyrics, the mp3, and the guitar tabs. Upon reading the lyrics along with listening to the song it hit me -- this wasn't a song written about being in love that was "more than words" could describe as I'd originally thought; instead it was the singer's desperate plea for his lover to actually show that she loved him rather than just performing lip service. It’s even easier to see if you read them as a paragraph rather than a song:



Saying "I love you" is not the words I want to hear from you. It's not that I want you not to say... but if you only knew how easy it would be to show me how you feel! More than words is all you have to do to make it real; then you wouldn't have to say that you love me, because I'd already know.



What would you do if my heart was torn in two? More than words to show you feel, that your love for me is real. What would you say if I took those words away? Then you couldn't make things new just by saying "I love you." More than words...


Now I've tried to talk to you and make you understand that all you have to do is close your eyes and just reach out your hands, and touch me. Hold me close, don't ever let me go. More than words is all I ever needed you to show; then you wouldn't have to say that you love me, because I'd already know.


What would you do if my heart was torn in two? More than words to show you feel, that your love for me is real. What would you say if I took those words away? Then you couldn't make things new just by saying “I love you.” More than words...


It was after discovering this that I started waking up with the song in my head each morning. I sang it each morning for about a week, thinking to myself how cool it was and how great the harmonies were. It is, after all, a beautiful song.



I left for this deployment with the intention of drawing closer to God and working through some things that I’ve struggled with spiritually for awhile. Yet even while I’ve been here I’ve been unable to lift myself out of the vicious cycle of sin-repent, sin-repent. The majority of the struggles have been minor (cursing, judging, holding grudges, etc.), but they’ve all stemmed from an inability to maintain consistency and discipline in my walk, spending time with God, reading His Word, and praying. That root problem has always been a huge struggle. I recognize it, and throughout my sin-repent cycle I’ve prayed that God would align my heart with His, would stir the fire within me, and cause a huge dependency upon Him so that I would have an unquenchable desire to spend time with Him daily. But the next day I find myself failing and praying again, “God, forgive me… I love You and desire to be close to You and to follow Your will completely.” It’s been frustrating to the point that over the past couple of weeks I’ve even doubted my own repentance. Am I guilty of using God’s free gift of forgiveness as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card? So this past week I began coupling my prayer of repentance with, “God, let this be real in my heart. Show me what I need to do or change in my heart so that I’ll be able to walk with You in true repentance and victory.” But I didn’t hear an answer, and I continued to struggle.


A couple of days ago I came back to my room to pick out songs to sing at the chapel for Sunday’s service. (God provided me with the opportunity to lead worship for the services when I first arrived here.) I walked into my room was started sorting through music when I came across “More Than Words” again. And God’s answer, which He’d been placing in my heart every morning for a week, rushed over me as I read the lyrics again. “More than words are all I’ve ever needed you to show, then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me, because I’d already know.” Everything in the song spoke to me: my sin-repent cycle, the way I could achieve victory and walk in His will, and even Him trying to show me how to walk in freedom despite my ignorance of His voice. I was broken and relieved at the same time.


God desires so much more from me than lip service. He delights in my obedience. In Isaiah 1 He states that if I cut obedience out, all other activity of worship is weariness to Him. God rejected Saul because Saul thought that his sacrifices were worth more than his obedience (1 Sam 15:22). And Jesus explains this in even more detail in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” It’s about maintaining a relationship with my Father, hiding His Word in my heart, and delighting in His laws rather than a sporadic prayer for a temporary fix.


Is it a new revelation? Not really. Like I said, I’ve known that one of my root issues is my inconsistency with spending time reading and studying His Word. But it’s a wonderful reminder that God is on my side, trying just as hard as I am to pull me closer to Him. -JD