What revives you?

 

I was asked to write a song about the word “revival” as part of the “Reviving Artists” project at Cornerstone Church in Edinburgh. Writing the song became a kind of prayer as I searched for God´s life giving, reviving, power in the normal events of life. One event that stood out was the recent passing of my grandfather. As the family gathered to remember a man who shaped generations, I suddenly saw the family as a mini-world; a place where we are born, known and die. In these moments which feel like endings, we often find ourselves with new reasons to live.

 

This mixture of wonder and pain was echoed by a friend of mine who had visited the Northern English moors and described the rugged, rough and awesome landscapes as containing “all the beauty and all the sadness of the world”. 

 

After lots of drafts and outcasts, the song finally found its form when I went for a walk “to the beach”. I had visited this spot many times before, in times of doubt and of questioning what life is all about. Sometimes I brought friends along with me. Looking back on all these journeys I felt a profound sense of gratitude for what God had done in my life so far. Bringing me to know Him, providing me with a husband, restoring my singing voice, and so much more. Suddenly revival appeared, not as something new and unfamiliar, but as the every-present, faithful and undeserved love of God which is “relentless as the tide”. Every wave that comes in is predictable and regular, whilst also fresh and revitalising. 

 

If you’ve read to the end I would be curious to know… What revives you?