We sang this song at church today – it is based on Psalm 23
Lyrics are here if you want them.
I have thought quite a bit about the idea that God doesn’t let go of us even if we struggle to hold on to him – see this poem. But what about the line “Your perfect love is casting out fear” which is based on 1 John 4v18. Is the fact that I have fear, anxiety, stress to do with the fact that I do not trust God’s perfect love for me? Do I need to rediscover the truth about God that he is good and love and trust in Him anew?
Because of the recent suffering we have experienced I no longer expect God to be the source of good things. I fear life. But the root of this is that I do not trust his perfect love which casts out fear. I need to find another way of connecting with a God whose love is not just good but perfect.
We sang another song this morning “At the foot of the cross”. It includes the line “I trade these ashes in for beauty”. This left me with the idea that I needed to trade the obvious grief of my daughter dying (all I was left with was her ashes) with a more complete and beautiful reality revealed at the cross. My daughter is not ashes now but in heaven. She knows life as it was intended to be before it was marred by sin, sickness, pain and death. These may seem vague sentimental notions to the majority reading this, but this is what the bible teaches! And if it is not true then we have no hope at all. There is no point having faith without hope of the resurrection:
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15v19
It is not just the present that creates the future. The future also has power to create the present. Our hope in the future resurrection, can, should and must lead to a different view on the sufferings around us. I do feel closer to heaven and have a greater connection to that hope, since my daughter died. Heaven isn’t just a nice story we tell our kids. It isn’t merely a theological concept to be debated in colleges. Heaven has a greater reality than the suffering and death we all experience. Oh, and my daughter is there already and one day, by God’s grace, I will join her.
Anyway, here is the song – At the foot of the cross
[...] and Beth Redman (who have had three miscarriages) is Blessed be your name. Also by Matt Redman is You never let go, a song by Matt Redman based on Psalm 23. Also further down in the same link is At the foot of [...]
By: Songs for a stillborn baby « Living in the Rainbow on 20/11/2009
at 8:56 pm
Was great to see you at the weekend and experience some of your journey with you. The resurrection hope, I’m learning, is indeed a powerful thing – a ‘yes’ to all this world’s ‘no’s’.
Take care mate and have a safe trip away.
By: Pete on 15/09/2009
at 10:33 pm