"...So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You're not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are"
The song "Come as you are" by Crowder is a great reminder during Lent, or really any time of the year, that God loves us and wants us to come to Him no matter where we are or what we are going through. He wants a relationship with us and wants to give us His grace to heal our brokenness and pain. No matter how far we feel that we are separated from God we are never too far to turn back to Him and reestablish that relationship with Him.
It is easy to forget this and to think that we can do it all on our own. I know that there have been times in my life that this is true for me. In my personal journey I put up walls between myself and God and never brought my brokenness and struggles to Him. I thought I could deal with the grief I experienced from losing a loved one without God. This was because of my own pride, stubbornness and anger, but I never felt at peace with God or the loss in my life.
Luckily you are never too far from God to turn back to Him! He always is there waiting for you to turn to Him and willing to take on your burdens and struggles. He is the only true source of healing and with His grace we can be healed and find peace. The past few years have slowly brought me so much more peace since I began turning to God with my struggles. Music for me has been a significant catalyst for this as worship music has become a part of my daily life. God always finds a way to speak to us in a way that we will hear him when we start to listen.
We are all seeking a relationship with God whether we know it or not. Often the boundaries and walls we create from our past or our sins keep us from hearing his call to us. Often it is our own pride that gets in the way of laying down our burdens. No matter what the reason is we can always turn back to God and He will accept us with open arms.
Take 5 minutes today and listen to this song and reflect on where you are putting up walls between you and God and not trusting him to help.
"So lay down your burdens, lay down your shame, all who are broken lift up your face".
God bless,
-Nick