Scripture
12“‘But
know this,’
says the LORD:
‘Return to me with all your heart, with fasting,
weeping, and mourning.
13Tear open your heart, not your
clothes!’
Return to the LORD your God, who
is gracious and deeply loving as a mother, quick to forgive, abundantly
tender-hearted - and relents from inflicting disaster.
1st Church is doing a photo theme
every day for the season of Lent through our social media outlets, and today,
that theme is “Return.” As I
have been praying over that word and discerning what I am to learn about God
and about myself, I started thinking about times in my life when I felt like I
needed to return to God. I can easily
recount a time in my life when all seemed dark and dreary and I felt angry and
downhearted. At that point I realized
that I wasn’t
living as the person I wanted to be or was meant to be. I began my road to healing and wholeness
again by “return(ing)
to the Lord.” I remember reading different laments in the Hebrew Bible and
finding the writers praising God in the midst of their great grief, and I
realized that was exactly what I was meant to do. In my time of feeling this despair and
darkness, I began to worship, pray, and write.
I decided to write my own lament to sing to God. These song lyrics became the cry of my heart
as I returned back to God, and they are still my cry at times today as I need
them:
VERSE
1: My mind is prone to wander off
to
find what I have done to cause You to leave me in all my despair
I
hope that You can hear my pain; I shout of it with all I am
And
try to trust Your promises are true.
CHORUS:
So, I will lift my should and sing, Oh, I will lift my soul and sing
For
even in my darkness there’s You
Oh,
I will lift my soul and sing, yes, I will lift my soul and sing
For
even while I grieve I know there’s You, I know there’s You
VERSE
2: Maybe Your will’s what I can’t see, or maybe You’ve forsaken me
What
happened to, “You’d never leave my side?”
While
I unload all my lament, it’s hard to trust You do not tempt
Though
I hurt I know You’re
only good
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
How deserted this city feels that
once was full
Always
treasuring yesterday is desolation’s tool
CHORUS
During this season of Lent, in what
ways do you need to “return
to the LORD?” Maybe you need to find your way back to a community where
you can worship God and serve God’s people. Maybe you
need to write your own lament and give God your praise and turn your gaze back
on God. Take time today to pray and
discern what places in your life you need to “return to the LORD.”
Chris Lee - Contemporary Worship Leader/1st UMC
Comments
Post a Comment