Awesome God – Rich Mullins

We spend a lot of time in our cars, if you’re like me. So, it’s not a surprise that someone might have actually composed a tune or two while sitting behind the wheel. That’s how Rich Mullins came up with “Awesome God”, behind the wheel of his Ford Ranger. He was trying to stay awake, but unlike most of us, who’d probably turn up the radio, roll down the windows and let the wind blow, or maybe munch on a snack, Rich had a unique stay-awake method. It’s probably not a story that he would have told most people, this story of “Awesome God”, according to his friends. But, God can work even through the episodes that make us blush, or that seem mundane and ordinary. 

 

 

 Rich liked humor, the weird sort that probably challenged some people. It was definitely off-the-wall, as one of his friends relates. You see, Rich preached to himself that lonely night in his truck on the way to a conference in Colorado. He made himself out to be the fiery, Bible-wavin’ madman, who had a message for sinnnn-ners! Do you ever remember watching Flip Wilson do his preacher skit on his 1970’s variety show? That’s how I imagine Rich Mullins must have sounded in the cab of the Ford Ranger on the way to a youth conference the night he wrote “Awesome God”. He was the preacher-rapper. You can hear it in the lyrics of the song, ‘cause it has rhythm. It may seem irreverent; some might even say it smacks of an unholy, blasphemous, cavalier nature. Yet, check out the song’s words. And, when combined with the music that our God gave Rich Mullins to write that night, it creates a memorable melody. God does work to make us learn a history lesson, even one wrapped up in a song.

 

 

 It’s tragically ironic that one of Rich Mullins’ most well-known tunes was birthed in a place that also eventually was the place of his demise. Rich died in a car accident in 1997, on a road in Illinois, and like years earlier, he was on the way to an event many miles away. Perhaps Rich was like the rest of us, who get tired on the road. He was human, after all. Yet, if the tedium got to him, there was at least one time he ignored the boredom and looked beyond the highway, beyond his fatigue. It should make us realize that God works in all kinds of situations, even on a strip of pavement that makes us heave a sigh. Our God doesn’t get tired, and He didn’t avoid the tragic either. Now, that’s truly an awesome God. 

 

 

See the following website for information on the song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awesome_God Another source for Rich Mullins story is the book “Celebrate Jesus: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003. See also “The Complete Book of Hymns: Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006.