I Stand Amazed, I Stand in Grace

In the past few weeks, so many lives I know have been turned up-side-down. Christmas time has so much joy and cause for celebration, but also, so much sorrow for many. A young girl, whom I assisted in mentoring while I was in England 2004, has recently been convicted and sentenced to six months in juvenille imprisionment. I cannot even begin to understand what she is thinking while sitting in a cold cell through this season; My cousin has been diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma Cancer; A young man facing a serious court case and in need of good defence; My best friend's father in a coma, with a 5% chance of living. She has to face the demons of her anger for his many years of abuse, violation, divorce, and betrayal. I almost don't get it, but after a little thought, I understand. I understand why Christ's birth, death, and ressurection heats up the old coals lying around near the bottom of the fireplace. Christ's beginnings erased the norm of thousands of years of complacency. Christ's beginnings were those of a call to sacrifice our past, ressurect our purpose for the future, and in that to live anew, having gone through OUR journey to the cross. This walk to the cross is not purely to seek forgiveness, but also to shake off the chains, the extra luggage. It is a lesson of how to travel light and for HIM to be your traveling light. We begin our journey to the cross every time we seek to know where we stand in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I was reminded of this timeless lesson while playing, "I Stand Amazed", on my guitar this evening. I was also reminded of how grateful I am to have gone through a coble stone ladden past. I realized that God's grace not only has covered me on my journey to purpose-filled ressurection through Him. I can be of support and pass His grace on to those who do not have the strength, by blazing the way ahead of them, much like I have in my past. I can take their place underneath that heavy cross, before the throne of God, to lift their sorrows, sacrifices, grief and despair. I can be the bearer, the person of peace in their life - much like Jesus.

Mark boyd, composer of "I Stand Amazed", hits spot on with the description of how many of us feel at points in our lives. [Emphasis by me]

I bring you my heart, I bring you my praise
I bring you the broken dreams I've lost along the way
I lift up my voice, I lift up my hands
I lift up the moments in my life that I don't understand
And I lay it at the cross where I'm surrounded by your grace
And I marvel at the wonder of your love

.....
I stand amazed, I stand in awe
I stand forgiven in the midst of it all
.....

I offer You thanks, I offer you my life
I offer a sacrifice of praise when I'm scattered by the night
For you are my shelter, You are my King
You are the risen Son of God, the Lord of everything
.....

I don't know how many times I've sung this as a prayer, shed tears, and at the same time, while discouraged, felt encouraged.

I have come to the conclusion that I believe that in such times as Christmas the status of tragedies hightens because the Lord Almighty is beckoning our eyes to look upon Him. To follow the star and find a beautiful promise at the end of a long journey. Most of all, he is beckoning us to bring the great person of peace (His Son) into circumstances where words cannot be sorted and actions can only speak. Truly, "when our depravity meets His divinity, it is a beautiful collision (David Crowder)."


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