Reflections

Through the Precious Blood
By Mark Altrogge
As recorded on Come Weary Saints Lyrics

You have ordained every breath we take
In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake
Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand
And sufferings brief carry out Your plan
And our fleeting sorrows
Will yield an endless prize
When some bright tomorrow
We’ll see You with our eyes, and

Chorus
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver of all grace
Your mercies crown our lives all our days
River of Life, quench our thirsty souls
For no true delight does Your love withhold
And in every season
We are satisfied
For just one reason
Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
Through the precious blood
Through the precious blood

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

We have sung this song at church several weeks in a row now. I love it. But it's not usual (at least I've never noticed before now) for us to sing the same song week after week. So when this time rolled around I began to wonder what the Lord might be saying to us. As a church I think the message is clear. There have been many, MANY families to move lately, several prominent in the church. It's always so hard to say goodbye to people you love. But the biggest, most far-reaching was the announcement in late June that one of the pastors, Eric Hughes, would be leaving in August with his family to attend the Pastor's College and then begin a church plant somewhere in our mid-south region as early as next summer. Eric has the magnetic personality that draws people in. Everyone loves him and he and his family will be greatly missed.
But I have been going over the lyrics trying to glean what the Lord is saying specifically to me. Saying goodbye to my best friend on the same day as we closed on our house (July 11) was really more emotion than I can handle on a given day. Since then it has been a flurry of activity trying to get as much done in the house as possible before the school year begins. For me, the second half of each verse has filled me with such joy that I can hardly contain myself as we sing the song. "And our fleeting sorrows/Will yield an endless prize/When some bright tomorrow/ We’ll see You with our eyes," "And in every season/We are satisfied/For just one reason/ Christ was crucified" The truth and hope in here is exhilarating. This last line especially, "for just one reason/Christ was crucified," that is the pinnacle of our existence, is it not? He died for us that we can live for Him, in Him. In light of His sacrafice can there be anything we are unwilling to surrender? We love Him--I love Him--there is nothing that I will hold with a closed hand, even the most precious people in my life. Because we know that any separation now is temporary. Eternity lies ahead...