Justin Camp

2 min read ⭑

A few years ago, I was at a retreat in the mountains of Colorado with some friends. One of them, Joel, is a musician. During a bit of downtime, he grabbed his guitar. He sat on a couch and sang a song he’d written and would soon release. It’s called “Sons and Daughters,” and is written in the voice of God. Five lines in, it goes like this:

I sing and dance when I’m thinking of you
And I’m always thinking of you.

In that moment, Joel’s voice and lyrics and God’s grace pierced my doubter’s heart. I began to believe it ... for me. In that moment, I just knew that I knew. Not just intellectually. Not theoretically. And I accepted those words into even my heart’s somber and shadowy places. He loves me. A lot. And you, too.

I sing and dance when I’m thinking of you
And I’m always thinking of you.

God’s love isn’t some theoretical, million-miles-away kind of love. It’s up in our business. It’s raw and fierce and tender and full of joy. “His desire for you and me can best be described as a furious longing,” wrote Brennan Manning.

I sing and dance when I’m thinking of you
And I’m always thinking of you.

God’s love burns bright and hot and true. It’ll never dim. Not ever. Not even a little. If you were to plot his love on a graph, the line would be high and flat. It wouldn’t fluctuate over time; it would never swing in response to our actions, even our worst.

I sing and dance when I’m thinking of you
And I’m always thinking of you.

You couldn’t plot his love, of course. No one could draw a y-axis that high or an x-axis that long. No page, no screen could ever come close to depicting his love. It’s massive and relentless.

I sing and dance when I’m thinking of you
And I’m always thinking of you.

In the seventh century BC, the prophet Zephaniah told the people of Jerusalem about God’s nature—about his love for those who seek him. Zephaniah wrote that God “will rejoice over [us] with gladness,” that “he will exult over [us] with loud singing” (3:17). And the word exult is a translation of a Hebrew word that means “to spin round (under the influence of any violent emotion).” My friend Joel was right. God is so crazy in love that he sings over us. Dances because of us.

Did you know that?
Do you feel that?

The hardest part for me is remembering his love and presence in the midst of my busyness. Scripture says, “Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go” (Prov. 3:6). I struggle to do that. I forget to look for him on Monday mornings and Tuesday afternoons. Instead, I just hear the roar of culture. I forget that his Spirit dwells within me. I connect much more easily with drivenness and self-contempt, with envy and cynicism and judgment.

That’s why I love the following two books:

The first is consistently among the resources our esteemed Rapt interviewees recommend most. (We track all of their suggestions so that we can bring you the best spiritual resources out there!) It’s “Every Moment Holy” by Douglas McKelvey. His book is full of prayers for the ordinary moments of daily life. “These prayers are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice.”

The second is brand new: “Every Season Sacred” by Kayla Craig. She’s one of our most recent Rapt interviewees. Like “Every Moment Holy,” Kayla’s book is full of fantastic prayers (and reflections) — specifically for parents.

Justin Camp is the editor-in-chief of Rapt Interviews. He also created the WiRE for Men devotional and wrote the WiRE Series for Men. His writing has been featured and seen on Charisma, Moody Radio, Focus on the Family, GOD TV, The Christian Post, Crosswalk, Belief.net, LifeWay Men and other media outlets.