Don’t lose hope.
This is the message that Dallas rapper Trip Lee shares with listeners in his track “Confetti.”
He tells us that even when things look bleak, or when it seems that others are putting their hope in material things and thriving, remember that as Christians that our hope isn’t in our present circumstances or possessions, but in what’s to come.
Lee says that his soul cannot be fed by possessions (“that Range Rove”), women (“eight centerfold baddie Jane Does”) or the lure of money (“or eight million sold”).
Although the world will tell you that these things are at the center of ultimate fulfillment (“Is it me, or do they keep frontin’ like they’re on the winning team?”), Lee knows that in the end, putting your hope in these passing objects and temporal desires is futile (The score gettin’ run up, I’m patient/I know my squad, it ain’t up right now”).
Still, he will choose to submit to God no matter what’s going on around him (“Down bad, still gotta stand up/…Acts 1 but it’s rough stride/…Still I bow, cause he gon’ turn it upside down”). And, ultimately, he will choose to rejoice in the present moment (“I don’t even wait to raise the banner, throw that/Confetti-etti-etti everywhere, everywhere”).
None.
We’re encouraged throughout Scripture to keep our eyes on Jesus, no matter what is going on around us; no matter what has happened or what will happen in the future. This is, as Lee says in his lyrics, an act of faith (“By faith, never luck, sight is/So tough, nearsighted, can’t bluff”).
We are not promised an easy life in Christ. I mean, just look at David, Abraham or literally anybody in Scripture that loved God and chose to follow Him. They all suffered. Most of them did not see the promises of God fulfilled in their own lives. Instead, they clung to the hope of God’s word and to God himself.
And as present-day Christians, though we may not walk the same paths as the prophets and saints of old; though we may not have all the things we want; though life may be difficult; we’re still called to keep our eyes on Christ and to rejoice in our present circumstances as our hope is in Christ alone. Lee’s track is a timely, and timeless, reminder of that.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
