Remember

I am a big fan of the David Crowder Band. This is not a secret. I think his music is interesting and creative and his lyrics are poetic and speak to emotions that are so deep inside us that sometimes we (I) can't find the words. He does!

His latest album "Church Music" is blowing me away.

There are some things going on in life right now that have serious consequences. The decisions that need to be made could change the trajectory of our lives quite a bit. I went through a dark time and wondering what was going on and where God was. I felt very alone and lost.

I'm not going to say that things are all peaches and roses now, but it's better. Things still need to be decided, but I don't feel hopeless anymore.

Anyway, we bought this album when it came out. This song really spoke to me in a different way in light of my circumstances. It's called "Shadows" and here are the lyrics (the music that goes with it is great too!):

Life is full of light and shadows 
Oh the joy and oh the sorrow, oh the sorrow  
And yet will He bring day from night 
And yet will He bring dark to light  
When shadows fall on us 
We will not fear 
We will remember 
When darkness falls on us 
We will not fear 
We will remember 
When all seems lost 
When we’re thrown and we’re tossed 
We’ll remember the cost 
We’re resting in the shadow of the cross 

I listened to this song for the first time at a time when I was feeling so completely hopeless.  I felt that "all was lost".  I was FEELING the shadows.  You know when life just seems so dark that you can actually feel the darkness, the loneliness?

The lyrics of this song gave me strength.  "And yet He will bring day from night, He will bring dark to light... We will not fear, we will remember...We're resting in the shadow of the cross."

I don't like to just get inspiration from musical artists.  They can say anything they want and they can come up with beautiful lyrics and phrases that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, but that doesn't make it truth.  So, it got me thinking about my Bible.

In my LTG right now we are reading the Psalms.  That book is PACKED FULL of highs and lows.  And the highs are really high and the lows are really low.  I see numerous times when he feels that the world is closing in around him, when he feels hopeless.  There are Psalms that talk about enemies plotting to kill him and he's trying to hide from them.  And yet he never gives up, and recalls times when God has been faithful, rescued him, crushed his enemies, loved him.  He remembers them.

And just look at when Jesus was crucified.  Imagine how hopeless it looked for them at the time.  People who followed Jesus believed He was going to save them all from oppression and lead them to victory.  These people had been changed by His teachings.  Then he was killed.  They probably waited for Him to fight back, to come down off that cross...but it never happened.  Then they watched His body be put in the tomb and the giant rock get rolled in front of it.  The scene was hopeless.  They were alone.  I'm sure they could feel the darkness.

BUT....

That's not the end of the story!  In our times of darkness and hopelessness we can remember the rest of the story.  We can remember how God kept His promises.  We can remember how Jesus defeated death and kept His promise to leave us a Helper.  We can remember that He promises to always be with us.  We can remember that His power conquers all...even death.

Does that mean all our dark times with have happy endings and we get all that we hoped for? Absolutely not.

What it does mean is that we are not alone in our darkness.  We can have hope...if we remember.  If we remember God's promises, His power, what He's done in the past - both in the Bible and in our own lives.

He is Light.  He chases away darkness.  He is Hope.  He is Peace.

You may need to remind of this in future!