When Aria was a newborn, I would hold her and make up songs for her. As I would sing, she would stare at me, and I would stare at her.
Once, while I was holding and singing to her, a certain worship song popped into my head. It was random. The song wasn’t even one that you would consider popular. Of course, I didn’t sing it to Aria. I wasn’t about to sing, “I love you, Lord” to my daughter. That would have been odd. Instead, I ignored the thought and continued to sing to Aria some random melody that I made up for her. Moments later, the worship song again popped into my mind. And again, I pushed the thought aside. It seemed so out of place for the moment. Though I continued to ignore it, the subtle urge to sing that worship song just wouldn’t go away.
The main lyric of that worship song is, “I love you, Lord.”
The next evening, I attended a church service. I wasn’t preaching; I was just there to assist a spiritual father. It was a beautiful service, and I was enjoying every minute of it. Then, during the worship, suddenly, the worship team began to play that song—“I love you, Lord.”
Again, it’s not the most popular song these days. In fact, other than in my own services, I can’t think of another setting where I’ve actually heard anyone sing that song. It was quite a coincidence, so I thought. But, sure enough, right then and there, the worship team started to play it.
As everyone joined in singing that song, I thought to myself, “What are the odds? I was just thinking about this song yesterday while holding my Aria.”
That’s when the Holy Spirit revealed something astounding to me.
You see, as I was singing to my Aria, I was totally consumed by her. The Holy Spirit was watching me, and His holy jealousy was stirred. You see, He was the one trying to get me to sing that song to Him when I was holding my Aria, and He was the one leading the worship team to play it in that service.
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? (James 4:5, NKJV)
Ungodly jealousy is born of fear; godly jealousy is born of love. The Lord saw how captivated I was by my baby girl. It was as if He was saying, “Don’t forget about me.” No, the Lord wasn’t angry. No, the Lord wasn’t being petty. The Lord’s jealousy is loving and righteous.
As the worship team continued to play, the people all harmonized, “I love you, Lord.” And there, in that beautiful moment of worship, I responded to the Lord’s pulling. I sang to Him, and even up until now, I sing that song to Him as often as I can. He loves it when I sing it to Him. And, to be clear, the Lord loves when I spend time with my family, but He doesn’t want to be forgotten.
In everyday life, when He sees us constantly choosing distractions over our time with Him, His holy jealousy is stirred. Remember, we are His. His jealousy over us is rooted in His love for us, and that love calls us away from the things of this world; that love takes us to higher places.