New Favorite Song

Over the last couple of days, I have been loving the song "When the Saints" by Sara Groves. And I don't just love it because she's also a Sara without an "h." Although that does make it even better.

Seriously, I love the song for its lyrics, its passion, its meaning. But I also love it because of the story behind it. The story of what most inspired this song and the CD can be found here. Just scroll down the page until you hit the Biography section, and, in it, you'll read the story of a young woman, Elisabeth.

When I read Elisabeth's story, I thought of how we often spend so much time in regret, so much time wishing that we hadn't done something or dreaming of what our lives would be like had we made some other choice. And, we spend a lot of time wishing that many things, things beyond our control, had not happened to us. And, so often we bear the scars of our bad choices and of the harmful actions of others.

It's hard to not do that, but I wonder what our lives would be like if we really believed Romans 8:28? What if we truly believed "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose?" Could we, like Elisabeth, look back on even the most difficult times in our lives and see God in them, see that there may have been some purpose or reason for that time in our lives? Some way that we can let God work through us and turn those difficult times into good?

It's a difficult thing to do. We want so much to have perfect lives, to have done things the right way, to have never made the wrong choices, to have never been put into harmful and hurtful situations. And yet, without those times, what would we be like? How could we relate to others who had similar hurts? Could we be the comfort to them that we can now be if we had never known such hurt? Can we see those difficult times as experiences we cannot waste, as experiences that can make us people who can speak to the hurts of others?

Because I love it so much, I'll leave you with the lyrics to "When the Saints." If you haven't heard it yet, you really must. I promise you'll love it too. And, when you listen to it, think about Elisabeth's story; it will fill you with hope and faith.

"When the Saints"

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharaoh's court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them