Day 35! 35 posts….35 songs….35 times I’ve struggled to find words and 35 times God has been so faithful to remind me that they always come from Him….eventually!
I’m a bit surprised at how deeply this week has hit me. Just when I finally feel like we’re fully into Lent, here we are nearing the end, and I should feel relieved that this discipline of writing each night will soon be accomplished, but…..that’s not how I’m feeling at all. It actually feels something more like…..saying goodbye.
OK, so not goodbye, as in I’m not ever going to write again, or even hear from the many of you who keep checking in to let me know what you are thinking and feeling as we move through this season together (which I LOVE, btw), but more like the winding down of a trip that’s been full of new places and faces and has filled a very special place in my life just now. (And I know we still have a week to go, but stay with me here….I’m about to make a point!)
All of this nostalgia has made me think more deeply than ever about what Jesus must have been feeling those last five days on his epic journey through humanity. Five days….
What was he thinking as he woke each morning and faced the days of lasts….last parables, last instructions, last walks to Jerusalem, last meals, last nights by the fire with his best friends, last laughs, last hugs, last conversations that lasted longer and longer into the night….
This plan – this unthinkable plan for God to become one of us in the person of Jesus is too amazing, too unfathomable to comprehend, yet here we are….reflecting on not only the life of Jesus, but the ultimate sacrifice he offered when he died in our place. Emmanuel….God with us. God ….with us!
I don’t know what the next few days will bring for us, but I pray we can stay focused just a bit longer – that we can fix our gaze on the one who came to redeem us and not look away when his suffering comes. I feel like we owe him that, don’t you?
This beautiful melody by All Sons & Daughters sweetly reminds us that our strength and hope come from Emmanuel – our deliverer – our redeemer – our God with us…. <3
“God With Us”
All Sons & Daughters
To be love, to be nearer to us
You’ve come to breathe life
To be light, to shine brighter in us
Oh Emmanuel God with us
Our Deliverer
You are Savior
In Your presence
We find our strength
Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
You are God with us
You’ve come to be hope
To this world
For Your honor and name
You’ve come to take sin
To bear shame
And to conquer the grave
Oh Emmanuel, oh God with us
Our Deliverer
You are Savior
In Your presence
We find our strength
Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
You are God with us
You are here
You are holy
We are standing
In Your glory
[x4]
Our Deliverer
You are Savior
In Your presence
We find our strength
Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
Our Deliverer
You are Savior
In Your presence
We find our strength
Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
You are God with us
You are God with us
You are God with us
