YOU COLOR THE MOON: REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNSHAKEN GOD

Your unfailing love will last forever.

   Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

- Psalm 89:2

Unshaken is a song I began writing in California several years ago. During that time I was really struggling with some issues in my life. Knowing that God is unshaken by the state of my heart - that his faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens - was a truth that helped sustain me during that season. It has taken on even deeper meaning now as I find myself on the other side of that difficult period. He truly is with me when I fly and when I fall. He is with me through every trial, through every change. 

I recently added a second chorus and a bridge section to the song. The inspiration came from Isaiah 57:15. The prophet writes of the Lord:

I dwell in the high and holy place,

   and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit.

I have always loved this verse and the way it describes the amazing character of God. Though he is holy and dwells in a holy place, he comes to the contrite, the humble, the broken. He is always with us and will sustain us through every season of life. 

When I wrote the lyric of the chorus, "You color the moon, and you can count every star," I was trying to describe the fact that the one who created and governs the universe is more than capable of handling the drifting and divided hearts of his people. "You're amazing in your ways, unshaken in your faithfulness."

However, there is an even more amazing reality. Not only is this all-powerful God capable of dealing with our wayward hearts, he actually wants to do this! He meets us right in the messiness of our humanity to redeem our failures, our shortcomings, and our pain.

In Psalm 8 David describes the majesty and glory of God's creation and wonders why a God of such power and might would be mindful of human beings? 

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?

- Psalm 8:3-4

This is the beauty and wonder of the gospel, isn't it? The God of the universe, the one who set the moon and stars in place desires to be in relationship with human beings. We are the recipients of his divine favor and unfailing love. And no matter how far we fall, he remains faithful. 

This is a powerful truth for all of us. Wherever you find yourself, be reminded that God is unshaken. If you are in the throes of an addiction; if you are going through a devastating loss; if you are doubting that God loves you as much as he says he does, let this song and his word be an encouragement to you. Our God is one of beauty and of grace. He can color the moon and count every star. He loves you. He will sustain you. He is unshaken in his faithfulness.

UNSHAKEN
Words by Paxson Jeancake | Music by Paxson and Allison Jeancake, 2017

You're here when I fly, you're here when I fall,
You're here through it all. Forever, you are unshaken.
When I laugh, when I cry, or doubt you at times,
Your love won't run dry. Forever, you are unshaken.

God, you're unshaken by the state of my heart.
You color the moon, and you can count every star.
You're amazing in your ways, unshaken in your faithfulness.

When I'm drifting away or running back home,
It's your voice I know. Forever, you are unshaken.
Through every trial, through every change,
One promise remains: forever, you are unshaken.

God, you're unshaken by the state of my heart.
You color the moon, and you can count every star.
You're amazing in your ways, unshaken in your faithfulness.

You dwell in a high and holy place,
and come to the broken with healing grace.
You're amazing in your ways, unshaken in your faithfulness.

You're unchanging, sustaining. Forever, you remain.