A Deafening Chorus

Rejoice always
and pray without ceasing,
give thanks for all
the bounty He brings.

Do not despair
and give in to grieving -
believe that God
has power over all things.

So, when you hear
of pain and of suffering,
hold fast to faith
and never let go.

The child of God
may not escape trials,
but still she leans
on the Lord of her soul.

Her comfort comes
not from being spared strife,
her solace not
from eluding the blows.

'Cause the One we serve,
with infinite wisdom,
allows pain for reasons
that only He knows.


Okay, so here I am again. Twice in one week is a little much for me, but that's okay. As I've said before, it's my blog and I'll do what I want to.

Once again, this entry is prompted by something that's going on in someone else's life. That's not to say that there is nothing going on in my life or that I can't apply this to myself, but that a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine put this message on my heart. I might be as bold as to say (okay, so I am bold enough and I'm saying it) that this message can apply to any one of us at any given point in life.

So, you're asking yourself, what is this profound message she's going to share? Well, it's pretty simple, really - no matter what is going on in my life, I should always praise God and thank him for not only the calm, but also the storms themselves. To me, giving my heart and soul to God is not about being pain free all the time. It's about recognizing that the pain itself can serve a purpose - it can make me realize how much I really do have, how important the people I love are to me, how precious the people who love me are, how much better off I was the moment before the pain started and how I'd give anything just to get back there.

Would that I could be so fully aware and grateful all the time, not just when something threatens the things that matter most to me. Would that I could stop taking those people and things (and God) for granted and always be fully alive in my praises. Sadly, that's not the case with us humans. Did you ever notice that when you hurt yourself - really hurt yourself - every fiber of your being cries out for relief? That's because we're never more alive than when we're in pain, suffering and at our wit's end. When we think we can take no more and we cry out for help, that's when we're truly alive, which is a good thing because when the relief comes, we should be more aware of it, so thankful that we cry out again, only in thanks this time. The moment (or endless moments) of pain is also the time we tend to appreciate what we had the moment before the pain began. Everything we took for granted, everything we skipped because we said we would do it later - every single one of those things becomes so precious when we're in the dark valley of our pain.

I haven't done this before, but I'm going to ask everyone who reads this to stop and pray for the people in your life who are suffering (whether you know it or not), the people you don't know who are suffering and for everyone else who is reading this. If we all do it, then each of us will have countless people (because this blog is so popular) praying for him or her. Prayer, whether we know it or not, doesn't go unanswered. I like the idea of "inciting" a deafening chorus of prayer that will uplift those of us who know others are praying for us.