Natalie Grant Tuesday

Continuing my series on how Natalie Grant songs touch my life, today I am featuring "Our Hope Endures." This song speaks to me in so many ways so bear with me, this could get lengthy. Here are the lyrics that touch me so: You would think only so much could go wrong calamity only strikes once And you assume that this one has suffered her share Life would be kinder from here Oh but sometimes the sun stays hidden for years Sometimes the sky rains night after night When will it clear? Our hope endures the worst of conditions It's more than our optimism Let the earth quake Our hope is unchanged. We all assume that life is supposed to be easy and that we should not suffer at all or at least not a lot. But, for me, I was abused as a child, given up by my birth parents, sexually assaulted, depressed, suicidal, lost my child to abortion, almost lost a child in pregnancy and then almost died in childbirth. I have a stressful family life. Why would God let me go through so much? Why can't He just make my life perfect and easy? I don't know the answer. I do know that everyone suffers on this earth. Some more than others. Some visibly and some hidden. Why should I be free from it? My Hope(Jesus) endures the worst of conditions! He was there when I was going through all those things! He kept a record of the tears I cried. He held me and kept me from killing myself. The skies are clearing for me now but now I can see that God trusted me to get through these situations. I have faith in Him but most importantly, He has faith in me! WOW! I cannot even put into words what that means to me. Emmanuel, God is with us El Shaddai, All Sufficient We never walk alone And this is our hope