Valley Song

by Jars of Clay

You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I'm crying out to you

Chorus
I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy

When death like a Gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face

But I fear you aren't listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures

Chorus x2

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut

And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down

Chorus

Yeah

Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia alleluia, alleluia

Chorus (4 Xs)

Oh, Lord sing of Your mercy,
Mercy
Your mercy

*** This song gives me so much encouragement. It conveys exactly what I couldn't put into words.

My heart is longing for God. My heart will sing God's mercies. I will never lose the song in my heart.

Although death takes away, God gives life. In these rare occasions of sad endings God is putting a new life. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Why We Need Each Other

Thursday, 24 February

'...encourage the fainthearted, help the weak...' 1 Thessalonians 5:14 NAS


A mouse looked out through a crack in a farmhouse wall and was distraught to discover a mousetrap. When he went to tell his buddies, the chicken said, 'Sorry, pal, not my problem.' The pig said, 'I'll pray for you.' The cow was busy and said, 'Come back later.' Dejected, the mouse was left alone to handle his problem. That night, a poisonous snake got caught in the mousetrap and when the farmer's wife went to investigate she got bitten. She developed a raging fever, and everyone knows you treat a fever with chicken soup. So the farmer took his axe to the barn for the main ingredient! As his wife's condition deteriorated and neighbours gathered, he had to butcher the pig to feed them. Finally she died. So many people came to the funeral that he ended up slaughtering the cow to make dinner for them all. In the end, everybody lost!

The Bible says, '...encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.' It only takes one thing to be an encourager: a willingness to '...bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves' (Romans 15:1 NAS).

Before deciding somebody else's problem has nothing to do with you, read this: '...If one member suffers, all the members suffer...' (1 Corinthians 12:26 NKJV). You can't sit on the sidelines while someone's hurting; tomorrow it may be you! We are told to 'Share each other's burdens...' (Galatians 6:2 NLT). When one of us is threatened we're all at risk. Our lives are woven together for a reason; each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry.

*** The truth is; today I think I am the one who needs to be encouraged. I feel so weak. I can read all these words and ask myself am I being stubborn not seeing what God had sent unto me? God would like to strengthen the fainthearted. God wanted to strengthen me.