Like the Spring Rain

I am a huge fan of the Christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman. I have purchased many of his CDs and now love to watch videos that people have posted online using his music. I even had the joy of seeing him live in the Kansas City area at a free concert I attended with my sister several years ago. Even though I have never met Mr. Chapman I know we have something in common. In 2008, the Chapman's young daughter Maria died in a tragic accident. I hurt for the family and wondered how they could ever get past the grief. I did not know then that a year later I would be facing the death of my oldest brother to pancreatic cancer and the loss of my father-in-law several months later.
Grief is hard to understand. Each of us deal with it in a different way. The face of grief changes. Some days it is a punch in the gut that feels like it will never go away. Other days it is a soft ache as you skim an old photo album. It is sleepless nights and hard days. Sometimes you expect it and other times it creeps up to surprise you in a memory so strong it threatens to take your breath away. It is fear when you aren't sure you can go on. It is a smell that reminds us. It is a place that makes us vulnerable and unsure of what to do next. It is a place that you are unsure of going to because the memories there are just too strong. It is personal. It causes you to question. It gives you guilt. It is anger. There is not a right or wrong way to do it. Grief overwhelms. It goes deep and is not something to "get past". It changes you forever.
There is another thing that Mr. Chapman and I have in common. Hope. It didn't make it easier but it has truly helped. In the months following the death of his daughter ideas began forming, words were written down, music began to take shape. The result were songs that have been a balm to my soul over the last year and a half. In his song, Spring is Coming, Chapman describes how his tears of grief were planted in the ground and that it felt as though winter had come". But even with this heavy heart he knows that there is the promise and hope of spring.
The words are not just alluding to the change of seasons but that we who believe Jesus has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us have been given hope. We find these these promises in Lamentations and the Psalms.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:5-8


But your winter days can change with God's help. As we move from this season of winter into the coming spring think of these words:

"Let us acknowledge the Lord, let us press on to acknowledge him, As surely as the sun rises he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3

God promises to stand with us in the pain and suffering of this life if we look to him. He promises to change those dark, winter days of our grief to a more bearable day of warmth. So, my friends, let God help you through these dark days of life. At the end of his song Mr. Chapman has some young children join him.

Out of these ashes, beauty will rise,
Sorrow will be turned to joy,
All we hoped for soon will appear,
Out of the dark clouds, beauty will shine
All of earth and heaven rejoice
Spring is coming soon.

God is there, just as he promised, coming like the spring rain.


If you would like to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman's song Spring is Coming go to http://www.youtube.com/ and enter the title of the song and the artist's name into the search box.

In Control

Do you ever have goals that you have wanted to meet but have fallen short? I have had quite a few of those in my life! For example, I wanted to be writing this blog at least twice a month and also to let you know how I was going to be helping those in my community. Then there is that goal that my husband and I wanted for our 25th anniversary. That trip to Europe-let me just tell you that it's not happening! Or the fact that when we moved to this house when our oldest was in kindergarten we had plans to finish the basement into bedrooms and a family room. That daughter will be turning 21 in a few days and the basement is more like a huge junk room! Now, I could become very legalistic and down on myself and spend hours wondering why some of these goals are not being met. Am I a failure? Why can't I ever do anything right? What are we doing wrong that these goals are never met? This would be a great deal of wasted time though. The fact of the matter is, well, just this-- God's plan happens!

The Bible is filled with stories of people who had thoughts, goals and dreams but the path their life took was probably not the one they had foreseen. For instance, I imagine Noah did not have "being ridiculed for building an enormous boat in backyard" as his number one goal. Or can you imagine that Abraham planned to have his first child late in life? I'm thinking he probably would not have picked to be woken up at night by a squalling baby in his later years! Then there was that guy Sampson. You know the one-muscles and strength beyond compare because of his goal of bench pressing more than any other guy in the gym. Oh, wait-- it was his hair that held the secret of his success not strength training! Finally, there is that sweet teenage girl named Mary. Her goals were probably focused on having a beautiful wedding and starting life with her new husband and then having a baby. Well, that goal didn't work out too well, did it?

I think I have told you before that I used to have a huge problem with trying to forsee the future and plan it down to the last detail. I did this to try to gain control of the situation but it never worked out very well. The fact is that I will never be in complete control of my future because God is! He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11,

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.' "

God knows already what his plans are for us. He made these plans even before we were born! Carve out some quiet time for yourself and read Psalm 139. You won't be disappointed! We can rest in the assurance given by the psalmist that God is in control. He loves us so much that our plan was made even before time began. He knows us inside and out! Though the waves of life crash around us and threaten to drown us, God is there with his plan! We may not always understand it or agree with it. We may question the methods. We may want to run the opposite direction! However, let me put your mind at ease. God's way is always the best way!