It’s another episode of The Gospel According to, featuring an excellent song by a group you might not have heard of before. This week we’re focusing on “Thunder Clatter” by Wild Cub, who according to Spotify are known for their “’80s-inspired synth pop and infectious guitar hooks.” This song is amazing on its own, but just wait until we turn it on its head to see the God side. Enjoy!
Song Lyrics: “I hear it call in the center of my heart, you’re the love of my life, the love of my life…”
Verses: John 15:26, Romans 5:5
Nugget: The Holy Spirit calls to us when we’re least expecting it.
I met you in the dead of winter…
“I met you in the dead of winter/ I stood stranded in the water/ Dug deeper than a crooked splinter/ I turned away from all the others.”
Despite its quick tempo and lighthearted tone, “Thunder Clatter” actually covers some pretty deep topics. In this line, the singer mentions “the dead of winter.” They’re clearly experiencing emotional pain when they meet the “you” of the song, as the “crooked splinter” image suggests.
You spoke like broken thunder deep into the center of me…
“Sad hopes I’d hidden under/ Tangled inside of me/ You spoke like broken thunder/ Deep into the center of me…”
Without Jesus, life can seem hopeless. Even as a believer, I’ve experienced it: the moments when it all feels like too much. Like I have too many thoughts and feelings and hopes and doubts all rolling around inside my head, and no idea what to do with them. Like my heart is a mass of tangled threads without a prayer of becoming neatly untangled.
And then. In comes the Holy Spirit, whispering in my ear through a song or a verse or just out of the blue, encouraging me with a truth about the Lord. Things I already knew, but hadn’t thought about until just then. Things that become even more meaningful to me as I experience them in a new way.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
John 15:26
Let me give you an example of how this has worked in my personal walk with the Lord: when I was a freshman in college, I had to get my wisdom teeth removed. Having been terrified of the dentist all my life, I was far from enthusiastic about this. In fact, I was in a state of barely-controlled panic the entire week. But, as I was searching for verses about courage and strength one night, the song “Be Brave” by Owl City suddenly popped into my head. Suddenly, that song, and the verse I had found (Isaiah 40:13) gave me the courage I needed.
It felt like God Himself had whispered in my ear, “It’s going to be okay. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you.” And my response to this was, “Okay, I’ll be brave,” from the lyrics of the Owl City song. The song I already loved had become a prayer, one that I have repeated over and over since then.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit is here to remind us of what we already know as believers. He will bring you verses you’ve read or memorized, and use them to encourage and strengthen you. And this connection we share will give us the ability to better love and serve the Lord.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:26
For those who might not believe this yet, here’s a note on the phrase “center of me.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 refers to “spirit, soul and body.” As I understand it (feel free to do your own research on the subject), body refers to physical form (obviously), but also to our instincts and human nature. Soul refers to our mind, will and emotions, where believers choose to follow Christ on a moment-by-moment basis. And spirit refers to the very deepest part of ourselves, which is either permanently saved or permanently separated from God. When the Holy Spirit speaks, He speaks to that part of our being, the deepest part, that longs for communication with God from the day we’re born. Even if you’re not a believer, the Holy Spirit can still speak to you; in fact, this is exactly how He draws us to Himself (John 12:32).
Want to read more about the call of the Holy Spirit? You’ll love this post! The Gospel According to Moana: Seashell Treasures
“I hear it call in the center of my heart, you’re the love of my life, the love of my life”
This is by far my favorite line of “Thunder Clatter.” If you took this one line out of the song, it would sound very similar to many contemporary Christian worship songs. But let’s keep it in context with the rest of the lyrics.
Remember the tangled hopes mentioned earlier on? Romans 5 tells us that hope, specifically hope that is placed on Jesus and His righteousness, will never fail us. The rest of the book lays this out plainly, and I highly recommend you give it a read sometime ;). But in this song, “I hear it call in the center of my heart” could almost (definitely) refer to the Holy Spirit speaking into our hearts. 🙌Cue the chorus of angels 🙌
“…and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:5
The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit (again, to my imperfect understanding) is to “bear witness together with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16). Before God the Father, we are seen as the righteousness of Christ, all our mishaps and imperfections covered by grace. In our own hearts, we are filled with the love of God, deeper and wider and longer and higher than anything we could ever imagine. He truly is the love of our life, and we can hear Him in every moment the longer we spend walking with Him 💖
I hope you were inspired by this post about Wild Cub’s “Thunder Clatter” and the work of the Holy Spirit. If you did, please share the love using the graphic below. And go check out the rest of Wild Cub’s music! I know I will 😸
Happy fangirling!
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