Scars and Struggles On The Way....

Matt Redman's song "Never Once" has become an anthem of mine.  It talks about how God doesn't leave us alone, ever.  Good times, and bad.  It talks about how God fights our battles for us, but it doesn't make them easy.

I want to talk about the prechorus/ chorus of the song:

Scars and struggles on the way/ But with joy our hearts proclaim// Never once did we ever walk alone/ Never once did You leave us on our own/ You are faithful, God You are faithful// 

This weekend while leading at the ethos retreat, we sang this quite a bit- and I started looking at this line- scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts proclaim.  Joy.  Not 'bittersweet tears'. Joy.
When we sing this we are proclaiming that we know that it is going to be a hard road.  We are going to get stuck in storms.  It is going to seem like they go on forever.  That line is depressing.  But the line that follows it- that line holds everything.

We have joy in the fact that God doesn't leave us alone.  He doesn't stick with us in the good times and leave us alone in the bad.  It feels like he is far away, but He is always there, ready to catch us, ready to fight for us.

You are not alone.

You have not deserted.

You are not unloved.

You are a prized possession of the King.

You are worth fighting for.