Let The Waters Rise

by Lauren DeAssis

Mikes Chair
"Let The Waters Rise"


Don't know where to begin
Its like my world's caving in
And I try but I can't control my fear
Where do I go from here?

Sometimes its so hard to pray
When You feel so far away
But I am willing to go
Where you want me to
God, I trust You

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

I will swim in the deep
'Cuz You'll be next to me
You're in the eye of the storm
And the calm of the sea
You'll never out of reach

God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

God Your love is enough
You will pull me through
I'm holding onto You
God Your love is enough
I will follow You
I will follow You


"Sometimes it's so hard to pray, when you feel so far away"
Wow. Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. This song pretty much embodies what I feel like during those times when I feel like God is not listening, He doesn't care, or He has forgotten about me. Of course we know that God is NEVER far away. It is us who put the distance between ourselves and Him, not the other way around.

I think what I love most about this song is that it basically says that even though I can't feel you God, can't hear you God, can't see you God, I know that "Your love is enough, it will pull me through." His love is ENOUGH. His. Love. Is. Enough. It really is. We know that He loves us, and we know that we can hold on to His promise that he WILL pull us through. "I will follow You....I will follow You..." No matter what, I will follow Him, and He (alone!) WILL pull me through.

Same goes for you. Put your trust in Him, no matter the raging seas that are in front of you, no matter how high the waters rise, you won't drown. He's holding your hand.

Holding His hand,
Lauren

Leading By Example

Growing up in Brazil my family always brought me to church. Sometimes by walking there, sometimes by driving me or by my ear. Like it or not I was there, and today I thank them for that. One verse I always used to hear from my grandmother was

Alegrei-me quando me disseram: Vamos à Casa do SENHOR! Salmos 122:1

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD." Psalm 122:1

and that is a verse I will never forget. I wasn't always the best kid to my parents as a teenager. My grandparents were such an example to me growing up. If you knew them you could just see God's light in their lives. We (Dad, Mom n' Brother) lived in a house built above theirs for most of my childhood and when I was around 11 we left Rio de Janeiro and moved to NJ. Then I was without my grandfather calling me to the side and whipping out Bible verses on me whenever he heard me misbehave upstairs. I know that if he was with us in NJ he would let me know what the Bible had to say about what I was doing wrong. Without that, I definitely gave my parents a run for their parenthood. (whatever that means lol)

Like most teenagers there was a time of the usual rebellious behavior in my life. That is when God worked my grandfather back into our lives in NJ five thousand miles away from his home in Rio. Once again, when I needed it, he would always call me aside and tell me what the Bible had to say about a situation where I misbehaved and why it wasn't pleasing to God. I often didn't want to hear it, but I knew he was right so I always listened, sometimes for 30+ minutes. I didn't realize it then, but looking back I see that God had placed him in my life to guide me on the right path during the most crucial time of my teenage years.

Another lesson I learned from him was to pray about everything and be faithful to God at all times. I can still remember many nights where I would see him on his knees by his bed before I went to bed, during the night and when I got up. That would often be the picture of him throughout the day as well, reading and praying, seeking God for everything. His knees would often "shed" as they were calloused from praying so much. The Bible shows us that Jesus knelt in prayer to God in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41), as did his disciples. It is a sign of humility and respect before God. Now it is very clear to me why my grandfather did so.

I hope that today you can recognize the person in your life that is an example to you, and I pray that God would help you hear what He's trying to say through them. My grandfather still influences me to this day, even though he went home to be with the Lord a few years ago. As Christians, we should always leave a godly impression in each other's lives, as my grandfather did in mine, and also be sure to listen to the advice given by God through others.

"KEEP LOOKING UP - JESUS IS COMING BACK!"- Sooner than you think!

God Bless!
Diego <><