This was one of the hardest songs to write. I’ve had parts of this song for a long time but it took a while to find the rest of the words. It’s a song about suffering. We’re so often told an over-simplified, problem-free gospel: that God just wants us to be happy and take all of our struggles and problems away. And while he does bring us a wonderful, incomparable joy, he also promised that there would be trouble. He showed an example of a life of suffering, leading to glory. If Jesus was willing to take up his cross for me, why shouldn’t I? He never promised that we wouldn’t suffer, but that he would be with us through it. This fallen world is full of suffering, but through it we learn to lean on Him and depend on Him, and to hope for that coming day when the suffering will be over. We may not always know the answers, we may wonder why some prayers feel left unanswered, but we look to Jesus as the example: as he prayed in the garden for the cup of suffering to be taken away, and yet still went through with it for the joy set before Him: to be with us. And we remember the words the Lord spoke to Paul, as he pleaded with God to take away his ‘thorn in the flesh’: “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Sometimes God moves the mountains, parts the sea, calms the storm, and sometimes he gives us the strength to go right through it with him. Even so, his grace is sufficient. Even so, he is worthy.
Video captured by Amy Lewis: https://www.instagram.com/_amyjlewis/
The illustrated poster shown in this video was made by Martha Ratcliff: https://www.instagram.com/martharatcliffillustration/
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