Have you ever annoyed yourself with something. I drive myself nuts with my constant humming and lately, I've been annoyed that something with no flash, no woohoo!, etc. has really made me think. I've been intrigued by a simple little song by Laura Story called "Blessings" that turns the idea of trials upside-down.
Brokenness. An egg, is almost useless until it’s shell is destroyed and taken away. In fact most foods are only useful when we chew them, swallow them and their nutrients are broken away and taken for nutritious fuel.
Soil left alone, will be hard, dry and impenetrable. Before we sow seed we have to break up the soil, we have to work it, etc. The soil’s former existence is sacrificed so that it can serve the needs of the plant - the soil’s true purpose.
Sacrifice. You guessed it, there's an example of sacrifice in baseball. Young players don’t like sacrifice plays but they're often essential to any team’s success. There’s a sac fly, the sac bunt, we sacrifice a runner to advance another, we even sacrifice a run sometimes, to get an out. In each situation, players stats are sacrificed to further the goals of the entire team.
I'm sure that you've heard this before - sometimes we need to break something about ourselves or about our play on the team to become all that we can be - God looks at our greater purpose and wants us to be willing to be broken so that He can use us for our true purpose.
Short term pain for long term gain, right? But what if we endure trials - AND WE STILL LOSE. What about that?
"What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy; and what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are your mercies in disguise."
Think about it,
Brad
"Blessings" by Laura Story
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
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet Love is 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 every promise from Your Word is not enough
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
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Happy back-to-school week! I hope it got off to a great start and that your hopes for this school year are realized. We sent Zach off to 11th grade this morning and realized that there's only 1 more back-to-school day left before ours are both off to college instead of grade school - CRAZY! Treasure these days and thank God for every opportunity that you have to be directly involved in their lives - it goes by quickly!
