You Have To Be There

“Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.” Psalm 22:11

Who is to save us from the darkness, when shadows grow around us and our world falls apart? When the waters encompass us, will our cry be lost in the storm? When we take our last breath, will there be someone there to awaken us.

We reach for His hand and He has to be there, He has to. For if He is not, there is no one else to help us and, being far too far from land, we will drown in the deep.

You Have To Be There by Susan Boyle

What is it Lord that you want
That I am not seeing?
What in my ignorant prayers
Am I failing to say?
Never before have I questioned the truth of your being
Never once have I dared
Never until today

All of a tremble
I stand on the edge of confusion
Who is to save me
If into the darkness I fall?
Now that I need more than ever my God to be near me
Do you hear when I call?
Are you there after all?

You have to be there, you have to
My life I have placed in thy keep
And without you I am drifting on a dark and stormy sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I’d drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down

I reach for your hand

And when I die who will throw open his arms to receive me?
Who will forgive me and take me and show me his face?
When I go to my rest, who will watch me and wake me?
When my time comes at last, will you grant me your grace?
I am so small of this Earth, I am nothing without you
Daring to doubt you at all turns a knife in my heart
Little by little I’m losing my way in the shadows
I am losing my hope and the world falls apart

You do have to be there, you have to
My life I have placed in thy keep
And without you I am drifting on a dark and stormy sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I’d drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down
I reach for your hand

You have to be there, you have to
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down
I reach for your hand

Something ‘Bout Love

“Love never fails…”  1 Corinthians 13:8

It matters not whether love breaks our hearts or tears us up.  We continue to pursue it because there is just something about it.  Somehow we know the universe runs on love and we cannot be without it.  Even though our world falls down like rain we cannot seem to give up on our belief that if we keep after love, it will set us free.

Can we still believe in love though it tears us apart?  Can we still believe in love though it seems to have forsaken us?  How long have we waited in the night for it to show up and make things right?

But we cannot despair.  We cannot hide in the dark like we did when we were young.  We must let our hearts shine in our eyes tonight.  We must move past the heartbreak and forward to the future.  No matter how long it takes, we will not give up.  Through it all we will live and let live.

There is no doubt that love will be the wildest ride of our lives.  Hang on!  Hold on tight!  Love will come through for us.  It will set us free. It’s going to be all right. 

We cannot give up this belief even if it brings us to our knees.  We cannot give up even if our world falls down around us. We cannot give up because of what is in our hearts. It is there we feel a wonder and ecstasy of something beyond us. It is there we know for sure that there is something ‘bout love.

Something ‘Bout Love by David Archuleta

Every night it’s all the same
You’re frozen by the phone
You wait, something’s changed
You blame yourself every day
You’d do it again
Every night

There’s something ’bout love
That breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh
It sets you free

There’s something ’bout love
That tears you up
Whoa oh oh oh
You still believe
When the world falls down like the rain
It’ll bring you to your knees
There’s something ’bout love that breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh…
But don’t give up
There’s something ’bout love

When you were young
Scared of the night
Waiting for love to come along
And make it right
Your day will come, the past is gone
So take your time
And live and let live

There’s something ’bout love
That breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh
It sets you free

There’s something ’bout love
That tears you up
Whoa oh oh oh
You still believe
When the world falls down like the rain
It’ll bring you to your knees
There’s something ’bout love that breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh…
But don’t give up
There’s something ’bout love

Don’t fight
Don’t hide
Those stars in your eyes (in your eyes)
Let em’ shine tonight
Let em’ shine tonight

Hang on
Hang in
For the ride of your life
It’s gonna be alright
Hold on tight

There’s something ’bout love
That breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh

There’s something ’bout love
That breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh
It sets you free

There’s something ’bout love
That tears you up
Whoa oh oh oh
You still believe
When the world falls down like the rain
It’ll bring you to your knees (to your knees)
There’s something ’bout love that breaks your heart
Whoa oh oh oh…
But don’t give up
There’s something ’bout love

Whoa oh oh oh..
Set’s you free
There’s something bout love
That tears you up
Whoa oh oh oh
You still believe
When the world falls down like the rain

Remember When It Rained – Josh Groban

“And He will come to us as the rain
As the spring rain that waters the earth.” Hosea 6:3

Remember when it rained?
It showered on the heart
To grow a crop of Love

It came to wash away
The desires that should not be
The ones that thwarted Love

It left a fresh, new heart
Free to think a realm of thought
On someone but self

Ah! The memory of the Rain
It reminds me of my need
How far I’ve strayed from Love

I cannot bear this chill
That keeps my heart from Spring
Oh Darkness! Must you stay?

I cried out for the Rain
As I looked up from the ground
In the shadow of a Cross

It blended with my tears
Filled my heart with hope
And sprouted seeds of Love

Yes, today I felt the Rain
It fell down from my sky
And cleansed those foul desires

These tears I cry for Spring
Are constant as the Rain
That soaks my yearning need

They magnify the Love within
My old self slowly dies
Succumbing to the flood

I mingle with the Rain
A torrent running down
Upon a world that knows no Spring

Remember when it rained?
But look! It’s raining now
In water I’ll remain

Remember When It Rained by Josh Groban

Wash away the thoughts inside
That keep my mind away from you.
No more love and no more pride
And thoughts are all I have to do.

Ohhhhhh Remember when it rained.
Felt the ground and looked up high
And called your name.
Ohhhhhh Remember when it rained.
In the darkness I remain.

Tears of hope run down my skin.
Tears for you that will not dry.
They magnify the one within
And let the outside slowly die.

Ohhhhhh Remember when it rained.
I felt the ground and looked up high
And called your name.
Ohhhhhh Remember when it rained.
In the water I remain

Running down
Running down
Running down
Running down
Running down
Running down
Running down

Made To Love – Toby Mac

The two things that are the most powerful movers in my body, muscle and blood, are about 75% water.  Without water I could not move or live.  My very existence is based on a love affair with water.  I am made of it.  I am made for it—and it for me.

But it doesn’t end there.

“Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”  John 4:14

And so water tells a deeper story, a tale of love written in my physical body.  As surely as I am made of water—to crave it, to love it—my soul is made to yearn for Him, to love Him and be loved by Him.    My very existence is based on Him.  He is the water of my soul.

Indeed, every time I lift a glass of water to my mouth, I am reminded of this.  Every time I am thirsty, my mind turns to Him who is more than water to me.  Every time I feel that flush spread through my body, watering my eyes and reviving my core, I raise my hands to the heavens and drink deeply of Life.

And when He comes, playfully splashing and quenching my deepest thirst, I am invigorated and fall in love with water all over again.

Made To Love by Toby Mac

The dream is fading, now I’m staring at the door
I know its over cause my feet have hit the cold floor
Check my reflection, I ain’t feelin what I see
It’s no mystery
Whatever happened to a passion I could live for
What became of the flame that made me feel more
And when did I forget that…

I was made to love you
I was made to find you
I was made just for you
Made to adore you
I was made to love
And be loved by you
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
And you said you’d keep me
Never would you leave me

I was made to love
and be loved by you

The dream’s alive with my eyes opened wide
Back in the ring you’ve got me swinging for the grand prize
I feel the haters spittin vapors on my dreams
But I still believe
I’m reachin out, reachin up, reachin over
I feel a breeze cover me called Jehovah
And daddy I’m on my way
Cause I was made to love…

Anything I would give up for you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)
Everything, I’d give it all away (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)

I was made to love you
I was made to find you
I was made just for you
Made to adore you
I was made to love
And be loved by you
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
And you said you’d keep me
Never would you leave me

I was made to love
and be loved by you

Illumination – Secret Garden

Sometimes I feel it’s long since I’ve had hope.  Hope seems to taunt me from afar.  The road is long and each day brings yet nothing of my dreams.  Disappointment lingers in my heart and breeds dismay.  Doubt crowds in and even as I struggle, I hear hope’s far-off strains—so distant.

Gazing in my mirror, mortality creeps near.  “Your world will fall” it whispers.  And all will come to darkness and ruin.

“All is lost,” I cry.

Yet lying in my night, upon despair, I hear hope’s song draw near.  It holds me gently and rocks me till daybreak.  It sings a hymn that draws my spirit up and marks my youth once more.

So strange, this hope, that it should press a paradise where there is none—that its song should lift me up when all is lost.  I cannot understand, yet still I thrill within the tune that plays before the dawn.  And somewhere in the night, beyond my flight of doom, my soul revives and joins the dance of life.

Hope has drawn above the shroud.  With trembling notes of joy, its voice has sung my night away.   Hope, long lost hope, has come to me at last.

Draw Me Close – The Katinas

God has drawn me close. He knows every part of me completely.  That includes what I think and do, now and in the future.

God is everywhere I go, even in the darkest place.  After all, he made me, body and soul, in the perpetual night of the womb.  That means He knows every bit of my past too.

But the thing that really overwhelms me is beyond just what He knows.  It is His love.  He contemplates me with fond thoughts that no one else thinks.  I don’t understand them.  They are too wonderful and too many.

Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I can’t even begin to count them— any more than I can count the sand of the sea.

In the grand scheme of things, I seem so insignificant.  Who am I that God would regard me at all?  What kind of God is this that thinks such a vast number of thoughts about me?  I can’t imagine it.  And I wouldn’t believe it either if He hadn’t whispered a few of them to me.  The craziest part of it is that it’s my greatest desire to be known and cared about like this.

It makes me long to be with God every minute.  He is all I want.

Taste and see that God is good!  Such mystery and wonder I can only experience, never fully understand.  Only by tasting—touching—God can I even begin to comprehend Him.  Only in the warmth and closeness of that embrace can I know as I am known.

Draw Me Close by The Katinas
Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend

You are my desire
No one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to You

You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near

Hymn to Hope – Secret Garden

My hope seems fantastical:  That after I breathe my last breath—after my body goes down to death and decay—I will not cease to exist.  I watch my youth retreat and, looking around, I see where I’m going.  Broken bodies breathe their last all about me.  The corpses of my friends haunt me.  It is hard to believe that I will survive.

But all hope needs is a closer look.  What did I think?  Did I think that my wonderful body was the gift of chance?  Certainly any power great enough to create me is strong enough to recreate.  All my life I have lived in the grip of that power.  My eyes and soul are witness to eternal strength and mystery.  What a thrill: God’s breath is on my face.  His heart is next to mine.  I know this.

So my hope is not fantastical at all, for it has been written all of my days into the story that weaves my life.  It is as common as a baby’s birth—as familiar as Orion, the spring, or the morning.  It comes to me as surely as my birth and consciousness.

I am not here for a passing part in this play.  The playwright that cast me has written an eternal script, playing the lead himself.  My part in the prologue has convinced me of that.

Yes, this is my hope:  That my God lives—the One who gives me back my life—and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.  And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—see God myself, with my very own eyes.