Moana Musings

“See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me…” 

Yes, that line is from a song in Disney’s Moana – let it not be said that I don’t give credit where it’s due. Yet as well-written as the Disney lyrics are, the meaning I’ve lately come to attribute to this song must be credited to another Author: my Heavenly Father. 

I love how the Lord speaks in so many different ways. This song, “How Far I’ll Go,” first struck me a few years ago. I’d seen the movie long before, but this one afternoon when I was sitting in my car between piano lessons, I heard the song and sensed it had some kind of spiritual significance for me. Recently, as I fumbled my way through playing the same song in a new piano book, it finally clicked. 

It was like a watershed moment, bringing multiple elements from the song, and even the movie itself, into line with what I knew God was telling me about my own life. No, the ocean isn’t calling me, but the Holy Spirit sure is. I have been learning to follow Him more practically, intentionally submitting to His leading on a moment-to-moment basis. I know God wants me to keep practicing, keep pursuing Him with passion, and if I do… “there’s just no telling how far I’ll go.” I saw Moana’s home island as “the world,” a reminder that God wants me in the world but not of the world, and that the world will often try to hold me back from following Him. Even the fact that her people used to be seafaring people and had forgotten their ancient ways out of fear reminded me of the old story of how we were created for communion with God but have forgotten our original purpose due to sin. How I personally sometimes let fear get in the way of pursuing my purpose. And just as the ocean kept spitting Moana back up onto the raft every time Maui knocked her off, it is the Holy Spirit’s efforts, not my own, that propel me along the path He has chosen for me. Everything just fits.

God has done so much in me, and He isn’t finished yet. He taught me a lot last year, bringing me through struggle into His glorious light. I am so very thankful to have learned and grown, and now I’m on the lookout for what’s next. How can I continue to fully rely on God in every area of my life? How can I keep flexing the muscles I’ve gained in Him and continue to strengthen them? These are the questions that flow regularly through my mind, often rolling on the waves of the Disney song that has become my inspiration. I am seeing some of the ways He’s calling me to bring Him glory, and I’m sure more are yet beyond the horizon. No matter what happens, if I am intentional about letting Him be the “wind in my sail,” all I have to do is step into the boat, and who knows where He will guide me.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series “Lyrical”. 

            

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