HIGHER THAT THE HEAVENS
November 29 Thursday 2007

In the quietness of the cabin, and in the early hours of the morning, everyone around me was fast asleep, everyone except me. Having exhausted the in-flight entertainment (at least everything I deemed worth watching), and having drained the battery on my powerbook, I decided to lift up the cover on my window and gaze out across the clouds.

As I looked out across the fields of white that stretched into eternity, I felt at peace, and I began to think about and reflect on my time at HTB. The things I’d seen, learnt and experienced; people I’d met, and how wonderful and indescribable God is. Just as I was thinking those very thoughts, mountain ridges began to appear through the clouds. I thought we were descending, but when I glanced at the little monitor in front of me, it said we were flying over Mount Everest.

I’m not sure if we passed over Everest itself, but I know we were flying somewhere close to the top of the world. It really was quite breathtaking. I desperately wanted to wake the people next to me to share the view, but they looked so peaceful, so I left them. I'm not really sure what happened next. All I know is that I was overcome with the sheer beauty of what I was seeing. I remember singing these words softly and blinking the tears from my eyes:

Your great love is higher than the heavens,
Your great love is stronger that the seas,
Your great love is bigger that the universe we see,
And still Your love, Your love is for me.

Words that I'd help write for a song, and words that felt so inadequate as I gazed in awe at the mountain-tops. I couldn't (and still can't) comprehend the majesty and splendor of God's creation. It left me thinking, "If I can't even capture the wonder of His creation, how can I even begin to describe His love for me, which is so much more?"

Caught with a lump in my throat, I quickly donned my headphones and tuned into the airline audio channel. And that's when I really cracked. For who should be playing but Tim Hughes; Tim Hughes who I'd been talking to less than 24 hours before. As I allowed the words he sang wash over me, I felt God saying that He had me in the palm of His hands, that He was laying the way ahead of me, and that I had nothing to worry about - that He loved me.

As the album drew to an end, I opened my eyes to see the last of the mountains disappear beneath the clouds. Then, as if awakening a new dawn, the next album exploded into my ears - The Vine's Who May Ascend? I couldn't help but burst out with laughter. My spirit lifted and I can honestly say that it was in that moment, that I felt ready to come back to Hong Kong and back to The Vine. Thank you Lord.

Click Here for a demo of Your Great Love (lyrics above).