Brave Enough To Be Bliss

the injustice, the abandonment, the hunger, the brutality, the disease and absolutely everything else… just every heartbreaking experience of this hard life. All of it. I screamed it, cried it all out of my body asking Him why.

Try, go ahead try Let your pain light up the dark Like the stars in the sky The gain, the stakes The love, the hate The joy, the loss The give, the take Try go ahead cry out

Even if you listened to the song when it appeared in the past chapter, spend three minutes and listen to it again thinking about all the pain in this world. Imagine me screaming…and if you have a wound from your past, if you’ve questioned why bad things happen, if you’ve wondered why God doesn’t stop it, if you’ve been angry, lonely, hurt…consider turning the song up as loud as you can stand and scream along with me. It’s OK to feel angry, it’s OK to ask questions and turn your hurt to the heavens, it’s OK to wonder what it’s all for, it’s OK if you’re out of strength, if you don’t know how to pray anymore or never did. No matter what you’ve been told, it’s OK to feel whatever you feel and it’s OK to scream and get it all out.

Matt Hammitt | "Try" (Official Lyric Video) (youtube.com)

“Sometimes He calms the storm, and other times He calms His child.’ Scott Krippayne

After the song was over, I turned down the volume and listened to it one more time and I heard it differently this time. I felt a sense of relief, physical release, freedom, a weight lifted. I felt calm, in my mind and my body. Nothing had changed about the world around me, but something changed inside of me. I was as raw and honest as I had ever been in my life , and nothing bad happened. I wasn’t struck down or doomed to hell, in fact, I hadn’t ever felt as close to God as in that moment. It was like the life that had become visible to me in the

beauty of Michigan, was now visible to me in myself. And all it took was letting it all out, not trying to be perfect, but allowing myself to be fully human in every sense, so I could open some space inside myself and allow God to come in. As I drove back to the house, I saw Lake Charlevoix and peace washed over me. The following song played and I pulled off to the side of the road to watch the last of the sunset and reflect on the day, the trip, the past five years, and my life.

Listen closely and remember these words and the song when you get to Chapter 20 ( What Made You Do It? ).

Kutless - What Faith Can Do (Lyrics) | That's what faith can do (youtube.com)

You gotta face the clouds To find the silver lining

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard Impossible is not a word It’s just a reason for someone not to try

Everybody’s scared to death When they decide to take that step

346