YOU ARE LOVED:

VERSE:

I’m soaring through these stormy skies tonight I’m up here on this ledge just trying to survive
And I’m waiting, hoping, but I’m not there yet and then I hear your voice and there are no regrets

CHORUS:

Even when the darkness closes in, even when the daylight won’t begin
I will be the hand that you will hold, you are loved, you are loved
Even when the rain keeps raining on, even in the center of the storm
I will be the high beams on the road, you are loved, you are loved

VERSE 2:

I’m holding on, my hands are turning white, you tell me to let go, this isn’t worth the fight
But my fear keeps creeping in, like a fog across the road  
but then you shine your light and it fades like a ghost

CHORUS:

Even when the darkness closes in, even when the daylight won’t begin
I will be the hand that you will hold, you are loved, you are loved
Even when the rain keeps raining on, even in the center of the storm
I will be the high beams on the road, you are loved, you are loved

BRIDGE:

This love is never ending, it’s unconditional, this love is not pretending, this love’s a miracle
This love is all I’m fighting for, this love it opens every door, this love will take your breath away
This love right here right now today

CHORUS:

Even when the darkness closes in, even when the daylight won’t begin
I will be the hand that you will hold, you are loved, you are loved
Even when the rain keeps raining on, even in the center of the storm
I will be the high beams on the road, you are loved, you are loved

________________________

I remember writing this song.  I was on a hike in a forest in New Jersey.  There were storm clouds overhead and it looked like rain…any minute.

The first line of the song started to resonate….”I’m soaring through…the stormy skies tonight”.

In this midst of our Community, there is always a storm happening.  There’s always someone that needs prayer for some storm, some crisis, some ailment or disease.  But that’s just life…we all need prayer sometime.  Actually, we all need prayer all the time.

But on this day, on this hike, I was wrestling with the idea of storms. The idea that life, in the midst of the storms…is still liveable. Still goes on.

Then the next line came…”I’m up here on this ledge, just trying to survive”.

We get into these moments where the challenge seems bigger than our resolve.  The wall seems too high to climb.  

I hike a little more….then the next line comes…”I’m waiting, hoping…but I’m not there yet”

Hope…defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  When we face a mountain that seems insurmountable, we hope.  It’s almost like this sixth sense that kicks in.  Hope.  We hope for a miracle, a change…something to get us to the next level.

Then…the rain started.  I could hear it softly bump the leaves as it makes it way down to the dry earth.  The orchestra begins.   The instruments each playing their own unique melody as the rain intensifies.  

I continued my hike.  Through the rain.  There’s something about a warm summer rain, being outside in the forest, hearing the trees speaking their own language.  It draws you closer to God.

Then….the next line appears…”but then I hear your voice, and there are no regrets”

It’s almost as if God speaks through these moments.  We hear His voice in the wind that blows through the trees, in the raindrops that hit the leaves. We hear His voice in the cries of the birds as they fly through the sky and through the creaks and cracks of the trees as they succumb to the strength of the wind.

His voice is always around us, always there.

Then…the chorus comes.  

Even when the darkness closes in, even when the daylight won’t begin

I will be the hand that you will hold, you are loved you are loved

Even when the rain keeps raining on, even in the center of the storm

I will be the high beams on the road, you are loved, you are loved

I had gotten the idea for You Are Loved from a thought that I had remembered.  It was more of a remembrance than a thought.  In our study on the book of Matthew in our Community, we kept seeing over and over again the love that Jesus had for the people He was surrounded by.  The people that were seeking Him out.  He had compassion, He had pity, He had love for them.  Again and again.

And He teaches us to love.  Matthew 22:36-40 says this:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Jesus reduces the entire law to two commands. Love God and love people. This fits perfectly with what we learn about God throughout the Old Testament. He makes a connection between our faithfulness and our love.

He then says that the second command is like the first. We are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. How is that command similar to the command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? If we truly love God, we love what He loves. And that begins with loving the people He came to redeem.

And who is our neighbor? In the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  Jesus shows us that everyone is potentially our neighbor, particularly when they’re in need.

So…Jesus teaches us over and over about love.  In John 3 He says this:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In one of the Bible’s most well-known verses, Jesus lays out the gospel message clearly for a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus’s whole mission on earth served as a sign of God’s incredible love for humanity.

But it’s not God’s love that would have surprised Nicodemus. It’s God’s love for the whole world that he would have struggled to wrap his mind around. 

God’s love wasn’t centered on Israel. And because of this amazing love, anyone-Jew, Greek, Roman, Samaritan-who believed in Christ would experience eternal life.

And would experience the love of God…immediately.  There’s no waiting for His love…it’s here. Now.

Then in Romans 5:8 we hear about how God demonstrated His love for us:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus tells us that love is laying down one’s life for your friends. But God took it a step further. He sent Christ to die for us even when we were lost in our own sin and opposed to Him. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), He isn’t asking us to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself.

God’s readiness to die for a world full of antagonists and adversaries illustrates His unwavering and captivating love.

So..the rain was falling, I was in the middle of this hike and I’m hearing the voice of God speak through the wind, the trees, the leaves and the rain.  

You are loved.

Why did I hear that?  No idea.  It’s just something that I heard.  Something that I felt.  It was like God was speaking to me through the Scriptures we had been walking through.  You see, hearing and reading about the hope and love of Jesus is powerful.  It’s life changing.

As a songwriter, I feel that the words that I use in the midst of the songs are a message.  They’re helpful to some and not helpful to others.  It’s a fine line between what works and what doesn’t.  I prefer to find things that work. 🙂

So.  When I’m singing this chorus and declaring that even when the darkness closes in, even when the daylight won’t begin, I will be the hand that you will hold..you are loved, there’s a bit of a declaration in that.

It’s almost like singing over the listener and saying to them…well…exactly that.  You are loved.

In our last online retreat in April…we leaned into this quote.

We have to accept the fact that we are accepted.  And if you remember, the person speaking that had written in the margin of his notes…this is for me.

You see, I think we all need to hear the chorus of this song.  I think we all need to lean into it a bit and acknowledge it.  Acknowledge the fact that we are indeed loved….even when we don’t feel loved.  Even when we don’t feel accepted.  We are.

Even in the center of the storm…we are loved.

So…think on this for a bit.  Think about your own life. What’s happening now? What are you struggling with?

• Self image
• Pain
• Revenge
• Loss of a friend, a spouse, a job
• Sickness
• Lack of direction
• Lack of hope

You see, when we get right down to it…we are all struggling with something.  Yet, Jesus, in His kindness and compassion, loves us.  God loves us.

Don’t believe me?  Let me give you a few Scriptures to lean into:

"Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

"My lips praise you because your faithful love is better than life itself!" - Psalm 63:3

“'The mountains may shift, and the hills may be shaken, but my faithful love won’t shift from you, and my covenant of peace won’t be shaken,’ says the Lord, the one who pities you.” - Isaiah 54:10

“But you, my Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy; you are very patient and full of faithful love.” - Psalm 86:15

“The Lord your God is in your midst — a warrior bringing victory. He will create calm with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17

Need more? Google Bible Verses about God loving me and see what comes up.

Read them.  Hear them.  Believe them.  

Jesus loves us.  You are loved today.  You are accepted today.  There’s nothing that can separate us from His love.  Nothing that can take His love away and nothing that we have done or will do that can change the amount of love that He has for us.

It’s just there.  Accept it.

You are loved.

HONEST:

If I’m being honest, there are days when my prayers don’t even seem to work
And if I’m being honest, there are times when I feel like I’m never even heard
And if I’m being honest, my complacency gets the best of me again
And if I’m being honest, I’m a little less straight and a little more bruised and bent
It’s so hard to believe, that you’re really giving me

CHORUS:
Hope and peace, I’m just trying to be honest, love and tenderness
Mercy, grace, is that something that you promise, all of this and nothing less, can I just be honest?

VERSE 2: 
If I’m being honest, everything that you give is nothing I deserve
And if I’m being honest, there’s a sign on my heart that says do not disturb
And if I’m being honest, it’s faith and trust that I really need to find
And if I’m truly honest I know surrenders where I begin to find my life
But even when I won’t give in, here you come again

CHORUS:
Hope and peace, I’m just trying to be honest, love and tenderness
Mercy, grace, is that something that you promise, all of this and nothing less, can I just be

BRIDGE:

Honest, Can I just be honest?

I don’t have all the answers  and I’ve made my mistakes
I’m ready to let go  I’m ready for a change, believe me

CHORUS:
Hope and peace, I’m just trying to be honest, love and tenderness
Mercy, grace, is that something that you promise, all of this and nothing less, can I just be honest.

________________________

I remember writing this one on a cool evening in the summer of the pandemic.  It wasn’t easy. 

It’s hard to wrestle with the word honest.  Here’s the dictionary definition: free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere.

Sometimes being honest with yourself is a lonely conversation.  A hard conversation.  A conversation that might take years to have.  Years to build on and years to resolve…if it ever resolves.

You see, being honest demands that we be real.  It demands that we confront issues and resolve them.  Confront them head on and then work through them.  

Let’s face it.  We all have issues.  If you say that you don’t have issues, you’re lying to yourself.  You’ve got them, I’ve got them.  We’ve all got them.  Be honest with yourself and come to that realization.

So the idea for the song was to talk about honesty.  To talk about what we get versus what we give.  You see, we live in this world that teaches us that we need to be looking out for ourselves and others are secondary.   That’s not the lesson Jesus taught.  

One of his core principles is to love others as we love ourselves.  Serve others.  Help others.  Give to others as we would want others to give to us.

So the chorus says hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy, grace, all of this and nothing less…

This is truly an unbelievable statement.  Jesus taught this and continues to be an example of this every day.

But…our call as Christians is to live out these traits in our everyday lives?  Well…kind of, yeah.

The singer here starts off by saying this…

If I’m being honest, there are days when I feel like my prayers don’t even work, where they’re not even heard.  

Ever feel that way?  Ever feel like what you’re praying is bouncing off of this glass ceiling and just doesn’t get through? We all do.  It’s part of our human existence.  It’s part of our relationship with God.

But does he actually hear our prayers?  Here’s how the Bible answers that question:

Psalm 139:4 - "Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether"

1 John 5:14-15 - This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,  but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

I think I could go on and on with verses that talk about how God hears us when we pray.  

But….to be honest….it’s still unbelievable.  

So let’s talk about belief.  There’s this story in the book of Mark, chapter 9.  Let me read this:

When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”  The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.”

But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”  He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.

You see…even in the Bible there’s this undercurrent of unbelief.  It’s something that is still rampant in our society today.

Yet…what are we called to do.  Believe.

So the singer in the song continues his dialogue.  

If I’m being honest, my complacency gets the best of me again.  If I’m being honest I’m a little less straight and a little more bruised and bent.

When I wrote these lines, I loved them.  

We all suffer from apathy.  Complacency.  It’s a virus in our society and a virus that fills each and every one of us. Why?  Because we’re so comfortable with living the lives that we live while others around us are suffering and hurting.  The world makes it easy to be comfortable doesn’t it?  

But…Jesus…teaches us what?

Hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy, grace, all of this and nothing less…

Do you believe it?

Then we get to the pre-chorus line where the singer confronts these thoughts.  “It’s so hard to believe that you’re really giving me”.

It seems like an impossible set of guidelines.  An impossible set of values to live our lives by.  But also, an impossible set of…gifts.  From the Father. 

But..Jesus.  He’s the one walking with us each and every day.  And….if we’re walking with him these values are being taught and instilled in us every day.

It’s not that we immediately learn all of this, we have to walk with the teacher, walk with the rabbi to learn from him.  Not learn from the distorted and tainted view that the world shows us.

So, we start off verse two continuing the honest conversation.   

If I’m being honest, everything that you give is nothing I deserve

And if I’m being honest, there’s a sign on my heart that says do not disturb

And if I’m being honest, it’s faith and trust that I really need to find

And if I’m truly honest I know surrenders where I begin to find my life

But even when I won’t give in, here you come again

So…there’s this realization that we don’t deserve this.  We’re broken, we’re beat up, we make mistakes and fall on our faces all the time.  We just don’t deserve it…yet we get it.

And the complacency comes back into play in the second line, probably my favorite line in the song….If I’m being honest, there’s a sign on my heart that says do not disturb.

Ever feel this way?  Really..be honest.

I know I should be doing this, donating to that, helping this person, making this phone call, asking this person to lunch or dinner, just being…there.   Yet….I’ve got this sign on my heart that says do not disturb.  Please…I just want to hang on the couch, watch some Netflix and not be involved.  Let me just live my life.

Um…yeah, that’s certainly one way to play it.

But then…what does Jesus give us: 

Hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy, grace, all of this and nothing less…

That’s right.  He doesn’t relax on the couch.  We do.  He doesn’t give up on people.  We do.  He doesn’t shy away from the hurt and the helpless.  We do.

A little conviction in the midst of the song.

Then the pre-chorus…even when I won’t give in, here you come again. Ugh….Jesus is relentless.  He just won’t give up on us and our unbelief.  He won’t give up on you or me.  His hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy and grace are relentless.  

Thank God.

Speaking of unbelief, let’s get back to our story from the book of Mark.

The poor father in this account was challenged by Jesus’ exhortation for faith. 

He did believe in Jesus’ power to deliver his boy – after all, why else would he have come to Jesus? But he also recognized his doubts. So, he tearfully pleads with Jesus: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

In this case, the man’s unbelief was not a rebellion against or a rejection of God’s promise. He did not deny God’s promise; he desired it. However, it just seemed too good to be true. Thus he said, “Help my unbelief!”

Spurgeon says this, “Help my unbelief is something a man can only say by faith. “While men have no faith, they are unconscious of their unbelief; but, as soon as they get a little faith, then they begin to become conscious of the greatness of their unbelief.”

So..the father cries out…help my unbelief.

Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him: Jesus had no difficulty whatsoever in dealing with the demon, even though the demon made a final display of his terrible strength. Knowing he must leave, the demon did the most damage he could before he left. But it was not lasting damage.

So put yourself in the father’s shoes.  He believes and cries out to Jesus right there…help my unbelief.

He didn’t have anyone else to lean on, to depend on so he cries out to Jesus in a last ditch effort to have his kid healed. This total dependence on God is the remedy for many spiritual problems. To be disappointed in yourself is to have trusted in yourself.

We’re not here to trust in ourselves, we’re here to trust God.

So then we get to the bridge of the song…the singer just saying…can I just be honest?

Basically pleading with the listener.  Can I just be honest?  I don’t have all the answers.  I’ve made mistakes.  But…I’m ready to let go.  I’m ready for a change. So give me….

You see.  We have to get to this place where we’re in a place of total surrender.  In the second half of the second verse, the singer says, if i’m being honest, I know surrender’s where I begin to find my life.

That’s probably the point of the whole song.  Right there.

We can resist and not believe and push away and not care…but at the end of the day if we’re going to follow Jesus, he’s going to give us hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy and grace…regardless of our position.  Regardless of our belief or unbelief.  It’s always there.

We just have to surrender.  We have to release our unbelief and lean into the promises of the Father.  

Romans 8:37-39 says this, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It’s all there in black and white.  Yet…we still don’t quite get it sometimes.

But He’s not giving up.  He’s not giving in and He’s not letting go.

Be honest. How many times have you pushed him away, how many times have you given up, how many times did you feel like you couldn’t go on? 

If I’m honest, quite a few.  I just don’t want to remember them.

But we have to remember that He’s giving us hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy and grace.  All. The. Time.

We’re forgiven even before we commit the sin.  We’re loved even when we don’t feel loved.  Even when we won’t give in to the goodness that he gives us…he’s still giving it.

I don’t know about you but if I’m honest.  I want the hope, peace, love, tenderness, mercy and grace that Jesus gives.  Unconditionally.  All the time.

Let’s be honest with ourselves and with each other.