you’ve got the angels by your side

Jan 19, 2014

I think I must be living in the dark ages because I had never heard of Nathan Pacheco until today when Jana sent me his beautiful song, Don’t Cry. I keep listening to it and she is right, it is filling me up with hope.

I love reading words to songs so they can get firmly into my mind. If you are like me, here are the lyrics:

Don’t cry, don’t cry though hope seems gone.
Don’t cry, This battle still can be won
And all these tears, that blind and cloud your day..
Will fall to the ground, your bitter fears will fade away.
Hold on, until the journey’s end.
Hold on, this broken heart too will mend
Reach out, I’ll come and take your hand
One day, Your darkest seas will lead to promised land.
Hold on, let it pass you by ;
Hold on, don’t quit, you’ve got the angels by your side

Your heart is strong enough to see this battle won
Your faith will make the morning come.
Don’t cry, I’ll see this journey through
Don’t cry, I’ll cross through storms to find you
And carry you home, to never go away…
To rest from the storm, and find a joy that passes healing to the pain.
Hold on, let it pass you by ;
Hold on, don’t quit, you’ve got the angels by your side
Your heart is strong enough to see this battle won
Your faith will make the morning come.
Your faith will bring the rising sun.

This phrase “Reach out, I’ll come and take your hand. One day, your darkest seas will lead to promised land. Hold on, let it pass you by. Hold on, don’t quit, you’ve got the angels by your side,” touches me so deeply. Reaching for the Lord can be so hard for me because I want to solve it all by myself and present myself to Him as a finished package. Completely hilarious and deplorable all at the same time, isn’t it? There is nothing about me that can fix my life because I am human and a sinner and broken and weak. I need Jesus. We all need Jesus. And yet, even though I know this inside and out, I still try to fix myself.

I am studying the life of Martin Luther for my upcoming WUBA class and have been so inspired by his life and firm reliance on the Word of God. I love this quote of his –

Christ must be everything: the beginning, the middle, and the end of our salvation. We must lay Him down as the first or foundation stone, rest the others and intermediate ones on Him, and also attache the rafters or the roof to Him. He is the first, the middle, and the last rung in the ladder to Heaven. Through Him we must begin, must continue, and must complete our progress to life.

Truly, I need to rely on my Savior and give my whole heart to Him. He is the answer. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is everything.

I love the imagery in Nathan’s song about dark seas leading to the promised land and having angels by my side. I have long felt this injury is an opportunity to learn to give my heart to the Savior and to feel His hands and those of His angels holding me up. It has been almost two years of pain and frustration and roadblocks and the whole time, my Savior has been here speaking peace and calmness to my soul. I may cry out in angst, but I know He is with me. I feel Him surrounding me with blankets of warmth. He has crossed many storms to find me, big worldly storms and furious storms within my own heart. And this line, “find a joy that passes healing to the pain,” is so, so true. His joy mediates the pain and brings healing to my whole soul.

Thank you for the song Jana. I love it.