Saturday, July 12, 2008
I will praise You in this storm
This is one of my favourite songs from Casting Crowns (words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms).
It is based on themes taken from Scriptures such as Job 1:21 ("The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised") and perhaps Psalm 150:2 ("Praise him for his acts of power").
To me this song captures some of how I've felt when I've wrestled with why God doesn't "reach down" and "fix" things, why sometimes He takes away people that we love, and why in the midst of the storms of life His voice sometimes seems to be just a whisper.
Just over three years over ago I lost one of my closest friends in a tragic accident, and my wife Stephanie lost her only brother. Barely a day goes by when we don't think of him and miss him dearly. Mike had suffered some terrible injustices in recent years and was just getting his life back when it was snatched from him. I couldn't understand why God would allow this accident to happen when life was just coming good again. It seemed to me that God's timing was all wrong - it made no sense at all to me.
This Scripture had real meaning for me at the time: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised". These are the words of Job when everything had been taken from him, yet he praised God. I think I learned from Job's experience that God's ways may not make sense to us, they may seem to be untimely or even unjust, and we may struggle to find meaning in what He does. Yet if we praise Him in our storms we find comfort in the knowledge that He is in control and we are reminded that He is with us, even if we don't clearly hear His voice.
I hope this song will speak to you as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Beautiful song, thanks.
It's hard remembering those we have lost, sometimes the pain can be so overwhelming. I too have found that it helps to remember Job and just how much he suffered, and still he refused to let go of his faith. He was confused, couldn't work out what he had done to deserve such suffering, but he would not turn his back on God.
Smart man - where else can we go anyway!
Thanks for that lovely song. Oh yes, its so hard to understand the subject of suffering, especially the loss of a loved one. I guess for me, it can really only be summed up (again) in Job.... when God starts his dialogue in Job 38 v4 - "Where were you when I laid down the foundations of the earth....". God knows. God understands. Even though it's hard, we cannot question his actions. And without pain, there is no rejoicing when pain goes away. And without a loss, there is no rejoicing when we gain something back. And without turmoil, we dont understand peace. And without death, there is no resurrection.
Dave Holman
Post a Comment