The next entry for my Blog is You’ll Never Walk Alone which was written by Oscar Hammerstein II and composed by Richard Rodgers for the musical Carousel, which was initially released in 1945. A link to David Phelps performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog. This song has a special meaning to me. I had a Sunday School teacher at a church in Birmingham, AL who died in a plane crash and left a wife and three young children behind. I was in a youth choir at the time and we sang this song at the church after his passing. I selected the performance of the song by David Phelps, because I felt it needed the emotion he provides in his version.
You’ll Never Walk Alone
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
We all face difficult times in our lives. I had been fortunate in that, up until a few years ago, I had not faced some of the challenges so many people face. My storms of life started in 2016 when I lost my dad and this was just the beginning. In 2017 I lost my sister, 2018 I lost my mom, and in 2019 I came within a few hours of death as a result of contracting an almost fatal illness after a missions trip to India. My wife had severe back problems in 2019 and my daughter had an eye stroke in each eye. Most of you have probably had experiences similar to the above or even worse. God never promised us a life filled with roses and rainbows, but he did promise us two very important things we should never forget. The first is the promise of eternal life upon acceptance of his son, and the second is that he will never leave us.
As we stumble through these storms of life, we see only the darkness and we doubt whether or not we can even take another step; wondering where that next step will take us. We try to push forward and we do so with our heads down and feel we have completely lost our way. I believe that people who take their own lives reach this point, because they believe they have no hope; they can’t fight the pain or loneliness any longer. For those of us who have accepted Christ and believe his promises, we should never reach this point; we must try to remember that we are never alone. We should hold our head up and know that God will take us through this latest challenge. Even though it seems as if we are encountering the darkest of days, God is there to bring his light that can pierce any darkness. I can’t help but remember the lines from the Footprints in the Sand poem, which is scripture based, when the Lord said “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
As we take God’s hand, he will lead us through the storm and we will see the bright and shining sun that lights our sky and hear the beautiful songs of the birds that he created. He does this to not only fulfill his promise, but to show us that every storm will pass and the sun will eventually overcome the darkness. As we face the howling winds and the pouring rain that bring us to a point of desperation, we must remember to not give up on our hopes and dreams of tomorrow as well as what eternity has in store for us. God is faithful and he will fulfill all of his promises. If we face the gloom ahead with hope, taking God’s hand, and hold our heads up; we will never walk alone. Romans 8:38-39 tells us we will never be alone, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Next time you feel alone in the darkness, take God’s hand which is always reaching out to you.