God is in this Story

The next entry for my Blog is God is in this Story, which was written by Jeff Pardo, Ethan Gregory Hulse, and Katy Nichole.  The song was initially released June 10,2022.  A link to Katy Nicole and Big Daddy Weave performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

God is in this Story

There’s torn up pages in this book
Words that tell me I’m no good
Chapters that defined me for so long
But the hands of grace and endless love
Dusted off and picked me up
Told my heart that hope is never gone

God is in this story
God is in the details
Even in the broken parts
He holds my heart, He never fails
When I’m at my weakest
I will trust in Jesus
Always in the highs and lows
The One who goes before me
God is in this story

So if the storm you’re walking through
Feels like it’s too much and you
Wonder if He even cares at all
Well, hold on tight to what you know
He promised He won’t let you go
Your song of healing’s written in His scars

God is in this story
God is in the details
Even in the broken parts
He holds my heart, He never fails
When I’m at my weakest
I will trust in Jesus
Always in the highs and lows
The One who goes before me
God is in this story

If it reads like addiction
If it reads like disease
He’s the One who frees the prisoner
He’s the healer of all things
If it reads like depression
If it reads broken home
He’s the One who holds your sorrow
He won’t leave you here alone

God is in this story
God is in the details
Even in the broken parts
He holds my heart, He never fails
When I’m at my weakest
I will trust in Jesus
Always in the highs and lows
The One who goes before me

Always in the highs and lows
The One who goes before me
God is in this story (you’re in this story)
God is in my story (right here in my story)

Have you ever really stopped and thought about everything that has gone on in your life?  I know that many of us refer to a chapter in our life or reflect on the many experiences we have had over the years.  Suppose all of this was documented in a book, what story would it tell?  What would be the theme of your life story?  How does each chapter begin and end and what caused you to fail or succeed in each chapter?  I believe this song encourages each of us to take the time and answer these questions. 

The song starts out by referring to torn pages.  When I see this, it makes me think of books where the pages have been dog-eared, high-lighted, and perhaps torn at times.   The cover is probably torn as well.  These are indicators of constantly referring back to the same pages over and over again.  In our lives, don’t we often seem to be caught in a roundabout?  Maybe it is a series of bad relationships, choosing the wrong friends, difficulty in the work place, poor decisions, or just that we can’t seem to escape the situations we get into.  These reoccurring events in our lives are the worn out pages in our story.  We become so defined by our past, that we really don’t focus on what we could be and how we could turn around our lives.  The end result is we spend too much time dwelling on our past instead of focusing on how to get out of our rut and becoming who God wants us to be.

The good news is that Christ is always there to pick us up whenever we decide to accept his outstretched hands.  He knows the stories of our past, because he was with us every chapter in our story.  Not only does Christ know the chapters, but he also knows the most intimate details of every chapter; most importantly he knows how our story ends.  Jesus was always there with his outstretched hands that we did not accept because we either forgot him or decided we didn’t need him.  We may think we are lost forever, but Christ is always there to love us; no matter what we have done wrong or how many times we have made mistakes.  His love never fails and he never gives up on us.  We are told in Matthew 28:31 to give all of our burdens to him. “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”   Once we adhere to and accept this verse, we can move on to the next chapter in our life.

As you enter into that next storm thinking you are alone and that no one cares about you, take the hands that Christ has extended to you and feel his arms around you.  He promised to never ever let us go.  It is at this time that you will realize that you are not alone, have never been alone, and can start focusing on tomorrow instead of repeating yesterday.  Feel the comfort in his love and the nail scarred hands that he has because of each of us.  As we face addiction, sickness, depression, rejection; know that you never face these alone and walking with Christ will keep these events from being the dog-eared chapters in your life.  It doesn’t mean our lives will be easy and that we will not stumble, but we will never be alone when we realize that God is in our story.  The good news is that he is with us even before our story begins and stays with us until the last chapter is complete.  1 John 5:4 tells us that God has overcome the world and with our faith in him, we too shall have final victory and spend eternity with him.   “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

Put your faith in Jesus and make him an integral part of your story.

Click to Hear Katy Nicole and Big Daddy Weave Sing God is in this Story

Come As You Are – Entry #4 of 5

Today I will focus on the following portion of the song,

All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are

Are you broken? What does it even mean to be broken? These are difficult questions, but the reality is we are all broken. How we are broken differs for each of us. A person who is broken is someone who feels as if they are not worthy, they are undeserving, they have lost their way in life, and perhaps as if they are alone in a cold dark world. Maybe our brokenness comes from actual or perceived failures in our lives, the way others have treated us, where we live, or just the general environment around us. It is easy for the broken person to fall into a state of depression as they feel they loneliness and failure seeping in. I also believe we sometimes become broken due to a tragedy in our lives, such as a loss of a loved one. Not that we have done anything wrong, but there is now a hole in our heart that we are not sure how to mend.

With a defeated and broken spirit, we hang our heads, our demeanor changes, and the way we carry ourselves reflects how we feel. We essentially have a broken spirit and have given up on our life, we have become the prodigal son that the bible tells us about in Luke 15:11-32. It is during these times, in our darkest hours, that we need to lift up our hearts and faces to God. In this time of our greatest need, he alone can heal the pain and loneliness we are feeling. Psalms 34:18 reminds us that God is always there to take care of us: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

He feels our pain and he asks us to feel his love and open our hearts to his peace and his will for your life. He heals the brokenness and reminds us we are his children and nothing can take away his love for us or the plans he has for us. It doesn’t matter if we have wandered away from God and that we have not been opening our hearts to him as we should, he still loves us and has his hand open to us at all times. Yes it might be challenging for us to hold our head up again, to admit our failures, confess our sins, and admit how we have turned away from him. We just need to come back to him and put our pain, suffering, and brokenness at his feet. As he reaches out to us, we will feel his warm, his love, and I am sure a look of compassion and a smile would be on his face if we could see it.

All we need to do, is to humble ourselves before God and give him all our suffering and our pain and he will heal our broken heart and our broken spirit. We only need to come as we are.