You're Beautiful

by Christa W.

blog entry

"You're Beautiful" is one of the songs that brings me back to a time when I first felt God's love in a tangible way. That was when I was 18. Here's the backstory.

When I was 5 years old I asked Jesus in to my heart. I felt a warm joyful feeling inside. But that was quickly squashed by parents and the church. I loved music and singing from a young age. But the music at our church was terrible - meaning badly done. We only sang hymns, the piano player was missing a thumb, and the song leader was consistently flat or sharp. There was no feeling of God's presence or even any concept or mention of feeling God's presence.

When I was 18 I was very excited to leave this environment. I went to a Christian university that had amazing worship every weekday. They were playing a lot of Vineyard and Hillsong music. I loved worship so much! In fact, in part I chose that university after visiting the campus and experiencing Friday praise chapel. We bought the CD of live worship when we visited in the spring and I listened to it over and over again till it was time to move in in August. As a student I went to chapel every day. God began to make His presence known and felt to me. For the first time I felt seen and loved by Him. Tears regularly came out of my eyes. This song especially would move me to tears, particularly the verse about Heaven, being on "eternity's shore."

Now whenever we sing a song from that time I feel instantly transported back to that "first love" time when I first felt the transformative power of the Spirit in the atmosphere of worship. Something real and tangible happens when we engage in worship. The atmosphere is changed, our hearts are changed, and God is invited to break in to our reality and do whatever He wants to do. Our hearts begin to be aligned with the reality of the King of Kings. Looking back, I realize this was one of those "changed forever" times.