"Blessings Through the Tears"

"'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..."

Have you ever broke an ornament or a candle holder and glued it back together? Have you ever dropped it again and it broke in the exact same place? It seems that fractures and cracks in our lives are the easiest places to feel hurt, pain, and despair. These places are hard to heal. They are hard to keep from breaking open again. 

Recently I have felt a void becoming apparent in my life. I have been missing something spiritually. I'm not quite sure what it was but I knew it was there. Over the past few weeks I have been out of town and I haven't been able to worship at my church and I was finding myself empty. I wasn't receiving the meaningful worship I needed to make it through my own trials and sufferings. It was a struggle just to make it through the week. I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but I find myself being aware of this...which I think is weird...but that's another story. 

I think most people know when they need one of those spiritual experiences....

Today, I needed one. 

It's been a tough few days, yesterday was especially hard. I found one of my broken places being torn open again. I needed to find God somewhere, anywhere! I was yearning to know His presence once again. 

This was the first week I have been back for worship at Noel since before Christmas. As Sunday School was nearing its end I really starting thinking about the service I wanted to attend. At Noel, we have two services that begin at the same time, Traditional and Contemporary. I thought that some good-ole' church hymns was what I needed. Saying the creeds, the Lord's prayer, and the Doxology might do the trick. As I headed for the Sanctuary I realized it was 10:35....Traditional service had already started. Instead of walking in late and trying to find a seat without being noticed I decided to slip into Contemporary which had just began. People were still taking their seats so I found one near the front among our Youth Group. I thought to myself, "I guess this will do, I wish I was in Traditional." 

God works in crazy ways doesn't he?

It turns out the music, people, and message in the contemporary service was just what I needed. The band played a song that has really turned my lousy weekend around and healed the scar that was broken open again this weekend. It was Blessings by Laura Story. 

"What if the trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?" 

Today I realized that through the tears God's grace is ever-present, yearning to make his presence known even in the hard times of life. 

Even though I had a really tough day yesterday with all the emotions of life swirling around, I realized God's promise for my life, "Surely I am with you always...I will never leave you or forsake you..."