Mercy Me

I love music. There is something about it that reaches inside and touches my soul. Many times I get lost in the sounds, and often the words as well. I've told my friends that should I ever land in the hospital in a coma, I want them to drag a CD player into my room and play music for me. I am convinced that if anything could pull me back into consciousness, music could.

I love to experience music in just about any format. Almost any genre. In the car. Shaking the pictures off the walls at home. Headphones. In concert. Symphonies. Bands. Solo. A single instrument. A cappella. Slow. Fast. Doesn't matter to me. I love it all. Granted there are some kinds I like more than others, but music is magical to me.

While I love it in any format, there is something special about experiencing it live - in concert. I have been known to cry at the symphony. The beauty of the music is so powerful that it literally moves me to tears. When listening to a singer in concert, I often get lost in the power of their voice. One note will come along and sweep me away. I become mesmerized, it's as if there is no one in the room but me. I'm sure that I appear to be bored to death on the outside - but I am so caught up in the sounds that everything seems to slow down, and I slip into a trance.

That happened to me last night. I went to a Mercy Me concert with a friend. Phil Wickham also performed. They have such powerful voices and sing such powerful messages that I became lost in the evening. Entranced by it all. God also has a way of showing up at those things and speaking directly to me.

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post called Surrender. In it, I talked about being ready to accept whatever pain God needed to allow into my life in order to bring me to a place of complete submission. Last night, Mercy Me gave testimonies about being in that same place, and even shared some ongoing struggles they had with letting things go and understanding why bad things happened to them. They sang a song that ministered to me and confirmed that I am on the right track with where I need to be in my brokenness with God. Their words will explain it much better than mine:

Bring the Rain by Mercy Me (from their new album Coming Up To Breathe)
I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray..

(chorus)
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings you glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise you
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray...

(repeat chorus)

God never ceases to amaze me in the many ways He speaks to us. Last night, He just happened to use this band at this concert to let me know that I am not alone, He is in control, and I am right where I need to be. Praise Him!!