Through It All

I've added a new song to my song list in the right column of this page. If you scroll down far enough, the latest song will begin to play. It's an oldie by Andrae Crouch called Through It All. This song is particularly relevant for several reasons. One particular reason is because during the week after my mom's passing, the music director from my church approached me and asked if I'd be up to singing this particular song on Palm Sunday. Being very familiar with the song, I agreed right away. Not because it's a great song, but because I needed to sing that song. I needed to believe that song.

I didn't do the second verse. I only sang verses one and three. The first verse opens up with the very poignant words, "I've had many tears and sorrows". My challenge was to make it beyond that first phrase. But the verse I knew would be especially meaningful to me was the third verse.

I thank God for the mountains,
I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the things He's brought me through,
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know that He could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do

Yeah, you understand now.

In my bible study last Monday, the pastor began our time by saying something which jolted my soul. He said "impatience is evidence of a lack of faith and trust."

Wow.

Even writing that quote caused me to stop and ponder it. When we're going through the valleys of life, we want to get out of them as quickly as possible. But the only way to get out of them is to go through them. Getting through these times requires great faith and trust. It requires the willingness to learn from every single detail of the experience. It means capture all the scripture and wise quotes you can, and memorize them and carry them with you. Those quotes reverberate in my head and heart and literally keep me from losing it.

I've said it many times before, and I have to continually remind myself that I must let go of the things which are out of my control, and apply wisdom and tenacity to the things which are in my control.

With that, I remain in a particular valley. Others have been through difficult times, more so than mine. But the battles I face are real and significant enough to me to challenge me in every meaningful way. There is only one way through the valley...and I don't walk it alone.

Through it all,
Through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God,
Through it all,
Through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His word.