Better than a Hallelujah

Have you heard Amy Grant's newest single, "Better than a Hallelujah?" It is an amazing song that focuses on God enjoying truthful emotions from His children (a mother's tears, a drunkard's cry, the honest cries of breaking hearts) more than He enjoys hearing "Hallelujah" emanate from our lips.

I believe this song has a biblical foundation. Looking at Hosea 6:6 in the New Century Version we read, "I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices. I want people to know me more than I want burnt offerings."

God wants us to truly know Him, to be honest with Him as we approach His throne, either in prayer or in offering praise. It is only when we are honest with God that we have also become honest with ourselves. It is only through completely emptying ourselves that we are then able to allow God to fill us.

God is a strange phenomenon when you think about it. He created everything, and by Him are all things made (John 1:3), and yet He does not force Himself upon us. Unless we open ourselves up, God will not come into our life. Unless we freely accept His offer of forgiveness, God cannot change our lives. It is only when we are truly open, truly vulnerable before God that His miracle can happen.

Maybe that is why Amy's new song is so meaningful to me right now, and maybe that is why it was so important to her to record after hearing the song recently. Through this song, understanding that being real with God is more important to Him than saying "Hallelujah;" maybe, just maybe we will be able to find the healing only God can offer.

Are you open to God or are you simply singing hallelujah?