All of My Hope

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Our worship team has had a difficult few weeks, particularly Andrew, our drummer, who lost his mom to a sudden heart attack. She had a heart attack on a Thursday morning and was rushed to the hospital, where she was in the ICU in a coma. I went to the hospital Friday morning to sit with him and his family as they waited. There were no blockages in her heart, but the doctors were not sure the level of damage to her brain, since she had stopped breathing for a while. They were trying a new treatment that would take a few days, and so Andrew and his family sat in the waiting room, not knowing what was going to happen.

When I got back home, I went upstairs to exhale for a moment and pray for this family. As I was standing there with tears in my eyes, the church bells at the church on the corner started playing What a Friend We Have in Jesus. The lyrics to the first verse instantly started running through my head

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

I knew, in that moment, that the Lord was speaking to me. He was reminding me that He was near to hear my prayers, and He was near to this family in their pain, no matter the outcome to the situation.

Later that day, I was driving to pick up dinner as a storm was brewing. I could see lightning in the distance and hear the rumble of thunder. The rain was coming down. But as I looked out my window, I could see a rainbow- in the middle of the rain. I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture (above). Immediately, the words to a new song started running through my head. I wrote what ended up being the second verse and chorus as I drove.

We may faceĀ great trials in this life. But those trials are the times we are reminded of God’s great promises to His people and His love that will never fail. These promises become more and more sweet as we put our hope in Christ alone and not in this world, because Christ alone has prepared a way through our suffering and is near to us in the valley of the shadow of death.

When the dark clouds are building in the sky
And I’m wondering if You even hear my cry
In the stillness You remind me
Of what I can’t see
Still I wait for the One that I know
You will never let me go

What a friend I have in You
You have heard my prayer
When my heart is torn in two
You speak and I’m made new
And all of my hope is in You

Like a rainbow in the middle of the rain
Let the glimpses of Your promises become my refrain
Though the lightning may strike
I will lift up my eyes
Still I will cling to the one thing I know
My Father will always hold me close

Through the waiting in the suffering
You prepare a way
So when I’ve walked through the valley
I will see Your face
You are smiling upon me
And You will dry my tears
You will dry my tears

UPDATE: All of My Hope is available for pre-order! Check out the preview and pre-order from iTunes or other online music outlets!

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