Bring It On

One of my favorite Psalms is Psalms 126 "When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

These are our family verses. They speak so much of where we have been and where God has brought us. When Jake died, we felt like we were captives. We felt in bondage to the hurt and pain and didn't know if it was ever going to lift. Thankfully, God has brought us out of that - we can dream again, we can laugh again, and Brad's songs are filled with Joy.

It is God's grace that we can look back over our lives and say, "The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us and We Are Filled With Joy!" I have watched person after person let their grief overwhelm them and it is understandable. Grief can make you crazy but it doesn't have to. Grief can change your life and create in you a desire to press into the Lord so hard and so fully that you leave full of joy, saying that the Lord has done great things for me. How can we say this? How do you heal from something like this? This verse tells us and Beth Moore taught me this after we lost Jake. We sow with our tears and He promises us that we will reap with joy. The sowing here refers to the Word of God. She taught me to get on my knees and let my tears water the Word while I was praying. If we water the seed with our tears, we will one day rejoice as we bring in the sheaves (people to Him through our experience or us back to Him if we are angry). Wiersbe says that "this is the formula for a harvest: going, weeping, sowing, reaping." So often we want to be apart of reaping the harvest but we don't want to weep. We want the reward without the cost. I know I would much rather have the reward than start with the weeping. No one desires suffering but it is in the suffering that we find Him. It is when we lose our life that we gain it. I thought it fitting to leave you with words to a Steven Curtis Chapman song called, "Bring It On"

I didn't come lookin' for trouble
And I don't want to fight needlessly
But I'm not gonna hide in a bubble
If trouble comes for me
I can feel my heart beating faster
I can tell something's coming down
But if it's gonna make me grow stronger then¦

Bring it on
Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong
Bring it on

Now, maybe you're thinkin' I'm crazy
And maybe I need to explain some things
'Cause I know I've got an enemy waiting
Who wants to bring me pain
But what he never seems to remember
What he means for evil God works for good
So I will not retreat or surrender

Now, I don't want to sound like some hero
'Cause it's God alone that my hope is in
But I'm not gonna run from the very things
That would drive me closer to Him
So bring it on

Bring it on
Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let the trouble come, let it make me fall on the One who's strong
Bring it on
Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let me be made weak so I'll know the strength of the One who's strong
Bring it on
Bring it on