Don't Lose Heart

I received a text at 2:33 am. The message read that this person could not sleep or eat. They were experiencing something more painful than they had ever experienced before. They did not know how to handle their situation. I texted back an appropriate response with scripture to help. Truth is the person is brokenhearted. Going through a grieving period. 

Later I drove to the school for powerlifting and heard a new Steven Curtis Chapman song titled Don't Lose Heart. The message of that song seemed very appropriate for my friend. I shared it once I arrived at TCA. It reminded me of seasons of grief in my own life. When your heart hurts so deeply that it affects more than just the emotions. It affects physically too. Like a deep pain in the gut that will not subside. In such seasons a person stumbles through life going through the motions. Halfheartedly attending to duties required. Feeling numb to everyone and everything around them. It is like living with a hole in your heart. Like dragging a heavy weight that cannot be unshackled. Even when tears do not flow on the outside they are flowing on the inside. Living with all this tends to isolate people in a dungeon of depression from which they cannot seem to make an escape. It is a dark season. One that only those who traveled that same dreadful path could relate to. 

I thought about the season of grief I endured from 1989-1990. I was a senior student at Howard Payne University. My grief was not associated with someone dying. It still felt the same. A daily death grip on hope and a strangulation on faith. Every moment of every day was a chore to endure. Classes and course work were not given my diligence. My parttime job only got a part of me.  Like I said, I stumbled through those days just trying to survive and not stay locked in my room, which I did do a lot.

It was in that dorm room that I met God. I mean I met Him in the midst of pain like I had seldom ever felt. I listened to Christian music. I prayed. I read my Bible. I wept a lot. During that summer I fell in love with God. I did not think life could get any harder. I would learn decades later it could. It was the lessons I learned in Jennings Hall that brought me through grief, back to hope and peace. The song I listened to most from Steven Curtis Chapman was His Strength Is Perfect. I rewound that song over and over again on my cassette tape player. I memorized every word. I sang it as a prayer and offering of worship in my private cathedral in Jennings Hall. Nobody knew the God encounters in that room. I learned not to lose heart. 

I found it ironic this morning hearing Chapman's latest release about not losing heart. Very powerful lyrics. 

Another sleepless night

Praying hope comes with the morning light

Right now you're feeling like you've lost this fight
And fear is screaming out your name

When you say "God help me"
You're wondering if He's even listening
Truth is, I've wondered the very same thing
So you don't have to feel ashamed

Let me walk with you through this valley
And tell you all that I've learned to be true

Don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you are not alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
Don't lose heart

Take my hand
And I'll show you all the scars from where I've been
Remind you how we both know this story ends
I know you'll do the same for me

These afflictions that are only temporary
Are gonna turn to glory beyond compare

So don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you are not alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
Don't lose heart

Don't lose hope, don't lose faith
Just hold on tight every promise God has made
You lose the fear in the light of grace
Just lift your eyes to your Father's face

Hear the song he's singing over you
Don't lose heart
I won't ever let you go
I'm right where you are
You're safe in my arms

So don't lose heart, don't you dare let go
I've been where you are, you're never gonna be alone
I know it gets dark, I know it gets hard
But we're gonna make it home, so don't lose heart

Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it (oh, don't lose heart)
Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it (don't lose heart)
Don't lose heart
We're gonna make it
We're gonna make it home

So don't lose heart. 

He says it better than I ever could. Grieving brothers and sisters. Don't lose heart. He knows what He is writing about. He lost his young daughter in a tragic accident several years ago. He knows about walking through the grieving process. Don't lose heart weary ones. God will help get you through. You will make it through your grief like millions of others who have gone before you. Don't lose heart.