Susan's Thursday morning note November 9, 2006 Intense pain in life - Forrest Gump analogy & On My Knees song
Good morning from Cody, Wyoming! I fly back to Nebraska later this morning, but have gotten to spend the last few days with my sister & three little nieces right outside of Yellowstone Park. My sister, Julie, asked me to sit last night and watch a speaker on DVD, Nicole Johnson, with her. I just listened and thought, “I can’t believe how much we all needed this.”
I wish that I could just send you her thoughts, but let me try to sum them up. She gave the story from the movie Forrest Gump, a clip where a young girl walked away from her home, from hurts, pains that she had no control over. She picked up a large stone & threw it at her home in frustration. Forrest came up to her and quietly said, “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.” (to throw at our hurts, grief, disappointments, guilt, relationships, etc.)
She then went on with the passage in scripture, “God shall wipe away all tears…” She shared a new concept of that verse that she actually imagines feeling God wiping the tears from her face. He doesn’t take away her pain, but he does calmly and lovingly touch her face and wipe her tears. What a beautiful, comforting belief. This is how I want to picture God. I desire him to real to me. I know that he does not keep pain and grief from being a part of my life, but his presence is completely real in the story of my life. He is the one closest to me – the one that I trust to wipe my face.
I would like to share a song that has meant about as much to me as any song in the last six years of my life. We had it played at my mom’s funeral. May the words challenge you to stop trying to solve your problems on your own, but do your best in the midst of them, after making your first priority to get on your knees . Let go of what is not in your control and pray.
On My Knees by Jaci Velasquez
There are days when I feel the best of me is ready to begin
Then there are days when I feel I’m letting go and soaring on the wind
Because I’ve learned in laughter or in pain how to survive…
I get on my knees.
I get on my knees.
There I am before the love that changes me.
See I don’t know how (I love this line!)
But there’s power
When I’m on my knees.
I can be in a crowd or by myself almost anywhere
When I feel there’s a need to talk with God He is Emmanuel
When I close my eyes – No darkness there (I love this line, too!)
There’s only light
I don’t know how but there’s power in the blue skies
In the midnight – When I’m on my knees.