Mercy & Grace – 40 Days with the Music of Amy Grant
Day 39 – Good Friday
These Reflections which take the music of Amy Grant as their theme, were originally published in Lent 2015. They are being republished during the Covid19 pandemic which is affecting the whole world
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
1O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my supplication;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame. (Psalm 6)
From Amy Grant: Raining on the Inside
When all goodbyes are said and done
And night time finds you home
Are you alright to spend a night
Of being all alone
Or do you hide between the lines
Of conversations past
A wall of words, a heart unheard
That hides behind a mask
I’m raining on the inside
My heart wells up with tears that start to pour
I’m raining on the inside
But then Your cries of love break through
And I fall in love with You once more
When friends who care can’t be there
To ease away my pain
And peace of mind it’s hard to find
Like sunlight in the rain
God sees my heart, the deepest part
Inside this lonely me
And reachin’ in, His love begins
To heal the heart in me
I’m raining on the inside…
To Listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czXncwhV3Y
To Reflect:
If I could use words to describe my feelings on Good Friday ‘Raining on the Inside’ are about as close a fit as I have ever come. Good Friday is always more than one feeling for me. I run through a whole basket of emotions and am never quite sure which one will assault me next. But then rain has many different moods so perhaps that is why these words fit me so well.
At the centre of these emotions, which sometimes are poured forth in a thunderstorm and othertimes are a gentle mist surrounding everything, remains a voice crying out in love.
The words of this love song are familiar and many of us will read them today and hear Him speaking personally to each of us. ‘Weep for your children’, ‘I thirst’, ‘Today you will be with me’. The stark all encompassing ‘Father, forgive’ followed by the final ‘It is finished’ which is in fact when it all really begins.
Realising that such rich words are for me as much as for everyone else only makes my tears flow more freely. But wait, there is a change. In the beginning the rain was a storm of my own making by Easter Day the rain may not have ceased but it no longer ruins everything in its path. The flood is past and is replaced by a gentle rain of God’s love feeding my soul and preparing it to bring forth a harvest of righteousness. No wonder Amy’s final words in the song are. ‘and I fall I love with you once more’.
The ‘man of sorrows, acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53.3) in His all embracing love for us takes our tears, be they of grief or sorrow, sin or sadness, blends them with His own weeping and turns them into tears of joy. He is, if you will, the ‘sonlight’ in the rain who brings an end to heartache, healing for our ills, and a song to welcome the rainbow.
To Do:
We may have many tears in our life. Today take just one of them and leave it safe in His hands which are opened wide on the cross.
To Pray:
Amid the tumult of outward cares, inwardly a great peace and calm is reigning in love. (Gregory the Great in Pilgrim – Book 4)
Acknowledgements:
All of the music on the video clips from YouTube is © Amy Grant. If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings. A full discography and other information about Amy can be found on her website http://www.amygrant.com
Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Prayers from Pilgrim are copyright © 2015 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder.
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