BLESSINGS

          In this blog I usually share old hymns of the faith, many of which were written several decades or even centuries ago.  But sometimes my heart is touched by one of the newer songs.  This week I've chosen to share one of these which was written just a few years ago.  Laura Story came on the gospel music scene around 2004 when she wrote "Indescribable" which was recorded by Chris Tomlin.  In 2008 she won a Dove Award for inspirational album and she earned two consecutive nominations for Female Vocalist of the Year.  But amidst this success a brain tumor hospitalized her husband in 2006 and the faith she had written and sung about was tested through the unexpected fires of fear and loneliness.  She watched him being kept alive by breathing machines and and going through significant postoperative vision and memory loss.  But this experience is what led her to pen the beautiful, meaningful words of "Blessings".  Here is what she said about the message behind this song.  "The song shows that we still have more questions than answers. But there's a decision that I find God is asking us to make. Are we going to judge God based on our circumstances, or are we going to choose to interpret our circumstances based on what we hold to be true about God?   Our circumstances have magnified the blessing of marriage. As high school sweethearts, we faced the strong chance that our long-awaited marriage bond might last just two years. Once you've rallied through a life-threatening illness together, the rest of it is like a surprise; every day is a new gift that might not have been there. It's not as big a deal now if he leaves his socks on the floor.  The words of James 1:2 "Consider it a great joy … whenever you experience various trials" - ring especially true and duly influence the joyful, wisdom-loving tone throughout "Blessings."    Don't get the wrong idea. It hasn't been easy. Everyone wants to be a mature and equipped follower, but would I have signed up had I known what it would take? God has grown us up, deepened our faith, our awareness of our great need for Him as a Savior, daily. We knew it before, but we didn't see it."  She goes on to add, "This is a good place to be. Life is filled with things you don't expect, but the Bible tells us to respond by trusting God and continuing to worship Him. Martin hasn't received complete healing, and that can be hard when we view God as all-powerful and all-loving. But here we are now saying, "Yes, this is how faith works. God has proven to be faithful."   We have been truly blessed out of a circumstance that at first didn't seem like much of a blessing at all. God is love. He tells us so repeatedly in the Bible. Yet sometimes it doesn't feel like He loves us. What if we pray for our loved ones to make it through, but they pass away before we even say goodbye? What if we pray for our children to grow up healthy but instead we watch them suffer a life-threatening illness? What if we pray for that little extra money to make ends meet, but we end up losing our home?   It's devastating when we don't see God's answers to our prayers. "We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near." What if the very thing that is best for us isn't the same as what we're praying for? All the while, God hears each spoken need. He loves us way too much to give us lesser things. God is watching over always, directing every moment we experience. So if He isn't answering our prayers how we think He should, does that mean He isn't answering? Or could it be something else? Could it possibly be that He's really blessing us?"  What a powerful testimony and song.  There is nothing I can add to what she has shared.  So let me encourage you to meditate upon these words this week as you thank God for His dealings in your life.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

And all the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear

And we cry in anger when we cannot feel you near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if each promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win, we know

That pain reminds this hearts,

That this is not, this is not our home…

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

What if my greatest disappointments,

Or the aching of this life,

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy.

What if trials of this life,

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise?

Listen to it here.    LISTEN