He is....

I have lyrics to a song included below.  I heard this song yesterday and just couldn't get it out of my head.  It was playing as I pulled into my Target parking spot and even though I was in a really big hurry, I stopped and finished listening before rushing inside.  Even took the time to write down the title of the song so I could look it up when I got home.  This is not normal for me....I'm not sure I usually even "hear" the radio - its on, but I'm not sure I listen.  This may have been a "God moment" - if so, I hope I'm getting the message correct!  I have heard this song before but for some reason it really hit me, in a good way, as I listened Sunday afternoon.

I mentioned yesterday that our Sunday school class was intense - which further reminded me you never really know what someone is going through.  In this world, lately, I'm best shocked with all the sadness.  I'm sure its no more than it used to be but with the help of social networking we find out about the struggles of all of our "friends" and their friends and family, etc.  This isn't a bad thing but it sure makes the sadness seem more wide spread.    Not too long ago, I found out via the internet about a bad car accident.  The accident included a man and 2 of his granddaughters - he is the father of my childhood best friend and they were here two daughters.  They are all okay, but it was a scary wreck.  Unfortunately, I have lost touch with my friend (another issue for another day) and I miss her and the updates of her family.  Thanks to modern technology, I knew within hours of the wreck. I was able to contact her sister for more details and more importantly, I was able to pray for all involved.  The interesting thing is that those sorts of updates also make us feel sadness - sadness that we would not have otherwise known about.  I have learned of people losing babies (and having babies....and adopting babies!), the death of parents and grandparents, the death of high school classmates, and other various tragedies that without social networking sites I would have never known about - and yes, I've prayed along side those people and I've felt a small piece of their pain.

I have recently been a support to friends as they have dealt with personal struggles - the loss of parents far too early, the loss of a fiance, sick children, even the loss of children.  It is difficult to watch your friends suffer through their own pain and it hurts when you have to face such realities.  Sometimes, in dealing with your own day to day struggles, you forget to spend enough time with others to realize what they are going through or to even realize they may have a problem much larger than your tiny complaint - and, this hit me upside the head on Sunday morning in our Sunday school class.  A few comments and opinions related to "why God allows sadness in the world" and we were faced with a story of true sadness.  The interesting part is this.....I was sad that the people in our group felt sad due to the discussion....but, after more reflection, maybe we were all there for a reason - maybe the topics came up and the discussion started so that these people would be able to share the story.  If so, I hope we were there for them as they needed us to be.  This leads me to the song below.....pretty powerful worlds that speak to me even though I'm not personally struggling with any great sadness or great stressor in my life right now....though, I know, there will be a time for that in my life again.....and, I hope that when that comes I can be reminded that He is with me too!

Mandisa - He Is With You

There's a time to live
And a time to die
There's a time to laugh
And a time to cry

There's a time for war
And a time for peace
There's a hand to hold
In the worst of things
In the worst of things

He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can't even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby's gone
And your house is still
And your hearts are stone
Crying "God what'd you do that for?"
He is with you

There's a time for yes
And a time for no
There's a time to be angry
And a time to let it go
There's a time to run
And a time to face it
There's love to seek
In all of this
Through all of this

He is with you in the conference room
When the world is coming down on you
And your wife and kids don't know you anymore
And He is with you in the ICU when the doctors don't know what to do
And it scares you to the core
He is with you

We may weep for a time but joy will come in the morning
The morning light

He is with you when your kids are grown
When there's too much space and you feel alone
And your worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes He is with you when you've given up on ever finding your true love
Someone who feels like home
He is with you

When nothing else is left and you take your final breath
He is with you
He is with you