As the opening notes to the song reach my ears, I impulsively reach to turn up the volume. I love music of all kinds, but this is one song I never want to miss. I want to savor the encouraging lyrics, and delight in the voices of the instruments as they take me to a place of calm contentment.
"Why are you striving these days?/Why are you trying to earn grace?/ Why are you crying?/ Let me lift up your face, just don't turn away."
We have all been there. We feel like we don't measure up, like we have failed God and will never be forgiven. And we feel alone, hurting and miserable. Your gut aches with the feelings of abandonement. But God is there, and His desire is to comfort you. That feeling that God will never forgive you for what you have done is a lie from satan. He wants you to believe that God has abandoned you and that you are worthless. But God hasn't abandoned you, He's with you and still loves you.
"Why are you looking for love/ Why are you still searching/ As if I'm not enough/ To where will you go child/Tell me where will you run/ To where will you run."
All of us want to be loved, all of us want to feel valued. So we seek love, we seek someone, or something that makes us feel valued and loved. And often we end up looking in the wrong places. God is pursuing us, he sent His son, Jesus, to die in our place so that we could have a relationship with Him. And that relationship is the only realtionship that ever truly satisfies. People are not perfect and will let us down eventually, just ask anyone who has ever been through a rough break-up. So we have pity party, we feel sorry for ourselves when people let us down. And we run, we run to things that will never satisfy, to things that ultimately cause pain. But God is right there, waiting for you to realize all along that a relationship with Him is the only relationship that will truly satisfy your desire to feel loved and valued.
"I'll be by your side whenever you fall in the dead of night/ whenever you call/ please don't fight these hands that are holding you/ my hands are holding you."
We all fall, we all need a hand sometimes. Life can be hard, life can seem more like a burden than a gift. But all those times you fall, God is there. All those times you cry out in agony and wonder how much more you can take, God is there. He is holding you. But sometimes we fight, we try to do things on our own. And God is still patiently waiting for us to admit our mistake and return to Him.
"Look at these hands/By my side/They swallowed the grave/ On that night/ When I drank the world's sin/ So I could carry you in/ And give you life.
The same hands that hold you, are the same hands that defeated sin. Because of His sacrifice, we now have life. And those hands that swallowed the grave are now holding you and comforting you. THAT'S AWESOME!!! If those hands can destroy death and sin, they can comfort you in times of pain.
"And I, I love you/ And I, I want you to know/ That I, I love you/ I'll never let you go."
God loves us, and we are forever safe in His hands. He loves us so much that He will never let go of us. Nothing we do can ever seperate us from His perfect, unconditional, redeeming love. He will never let go of you, even when the walls of your life are crashing down around you. Always remember How much He loves you.
The title of the song is "By Your Side" By Tenth Avenue North. If you haven't heard it before, I encourage you to look it up.
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)
