Do you ever have those moments when you suddenly realise a whole new meaning to something?
It may be a song, a poem, a novel or even a person.
I had one of these “epiphanies” today.
Issy and I are big fan’s of the band- Coldplay. No doubt you have heard one of their songs sometime in your life, especially with their new release of their album- Midnight Stories.
Yet, today one of their songs from their previous album (Mylo Xyloto) came on in the car. The song is called U.F.O. It’s one of my favourite songs from Coldplay and it wasn’t until today that I realised that this song could be interpreted with a strong Christian message. I’m certainly not saying that Coldplay is a Christian rock band, because they aren’t. However, I think any song can be interpreted in many different ways. It all depends on your perspective and views on life.
So, U.F.O came on in the car and I really started to listen to the lyrics, realising a whole new meaning-
‘Lord I don’t know which way I am going
Which way the river is gonna flow
It’s just seems that upstream, I keep rowing
Still got such a long way to go
Still got such a long way to go’
For me this one verse can describe what it’s like to be a Christian in the hard times. It can feel like rowing against the current. The current that’s filled with people, thoughts and situations that all want us to stop rowing and just go with the flow. It can seem like such a hard fight, constantly fighting the river of sin.
However, a Christian teacher at our school once described Christian faith like this- “You’re either fighting the current- striving for God and eternal life, or you are flowing with the current, the easy way through life, but it ultimately leads to the waterfall, or in other words death and no eternal life. There is no in-between, you are either fighting the current or flowing with it.”
So for me ‘U.F.O’ has just described what it’s like in the hard times, but in the second verse it also describes what the reward will be like.
‘Then that light, it’s your eye
I know, I swear,
We’ll find somewhere the streets are paved with gold
Bullets fly, split the sky
But that’s all right, sometimes, sunlight comes streaming through the holes’
It’s like this verse describes the feeling when you see something so beautiful you can only think that there must be a God. Something so beautiful it couldn’t just be an accident. Those ‘glimpses of heaven’ remind us that God’s kingdom is waiting for us and even though paddling against the current is so hard, it’s forever rewarding.
I encourage you to listen to this song when you have those hard days. Its a short, sweet acoustic tune that will make you smile.
We would also love if you contacted us to share any experiences with your faith.
Check out the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnc77S-g0qQ
Stay strong,
Alex ❤
The Deepest Oceans and Highest Heavens 