Chances are, you haven't heard of John Mark McMillan. But you may have heard of his product.
John Mark McMillan is a singer/songwriter who released his debut album--The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down--in 2005. One of the songs from this album has been a huge hit, in spite of the fact that it is best known by the five other artists who've covered it, rather than it's writer, McMillan.
The song has tremendous sentimental value because McMillan wrote it in a season of personal pain following the death of his close friend, Steven. Steven was a youth pastor, and one day during a church staff meeting he prayed out loud, "Lord, if it would shake the youth of a nation, I will give my life today." That very same night, McMillan was awakened by a phone call telling him Steven had been tragically killed in a car accident. That's when he penned the words to the song, How He Loves:
He is jealous for me loves like a hurricane
I am a tree bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
Oh how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us so
Over the last several months, my family and I have gone through a personal "hurricane"--back-to-back family deaths, depression, discouragement, etc. But through it all, John Mark McMillan's words have spoke to us in a deep, profound way. Because, even though it seems like the relentless wind, rain, and storm of the season would overcome us, the hurricane of God's love was even greater! His love is like a hurricane--greater than even a category 5 monster that threatens to reshape entire cities! Centuries ago, a young shepherd learned and understood what McMillan found true during his season of pain: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me" (Psalm 23:4, NIV)
If you're going through a difficult time, let me encourage you to reach out to a Heavenly Father that loves you like a hurricane! He's with you, for you, and never let's go--because He loves us!
