“Blessings” By Laura Story

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights.

For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.  — Psalm 100:5

I have written before on Excellent or Praiseworthy that when I am approached by several people about the same thing, it means that God is up to something and I had better pay attention. It has been that way with this song. Several people have said, “You need to post ‘Blessings’ by Laura Story. It will speak to our troops & their families.”

I was also interested that the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) International Conference coming up in November in Nashville is featuring Laura Story as the worship leader.

The Bible is clear that God is good (“You are good, and what You do is good.” Psalm 119:68) and God is faithful (“He is faithful in all He does.” Psalm 33:4). So when life is difficult, what are we to think? We have two choices—to crumble under the weight of the difficulty, or to trust God through it all.

When Laura Story’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor early-on in their marriage, they had that choice. And even today with his lingering handicaps, they have that same choice. The song “Blessings” takes us to that decision point: “’The song shows that we still have more questions than answers,’ Laura confesses. ‘But there’s a decision that I find God is asking us to make: whether we are going to choose to interpret our circumstances based on what we hold to be true about God, or whether we’re going to judge what we hold to be true about God based on our circumstances.’”  (Story behind “Blessings”)

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

So today, during this deployment, what are your choices? Is it possible that this deployment might be a blessing in some way that you have never imagined? Can you trust God with this deployment? Can you trust God with your life? If you can, and you will . . . is it possible that this life is only a brief entry into life everlasting with our heavenly Father? The challenge is to think differently than the world thinks—to act differently than the world acts—and to trust and believe in God.

Questions to Share:

1.  Think back to a very difficult time in your life.  What did God teach you during that time?

2. How has God’s presence been made clear to you during this deployment?

3.  If you have never before trusted in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. . . go to www.GodLovesTheWorld.com.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16