2. It is amazing that God can know our story so much so as to hear our cry. We are forever Israel's story. We have been brought out of captivity.
In 1912 James Rowe wrote the words of the Gospel Hymn, Love Lifted Me. In the first verse of the song Mr. Rowe wrote,
I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me; now safe am I.
I don’t know Mr. Rowe’s personal story of coming to Christ but I know he has captured in a few poetic words the story of a lot of people. It’s certainly my story.
I was raised in a wonderful Christian home with a Mom and Dad who loved me unconditionally. I was raised in a Church that spoke faithfully to me the message of Jesus. Still, even as a young boy approaching my teen years, I had never sensed a need for Christ – never even thought about it. Yet, I knew there were tendencies in me that were greater than myself, a bent, a predisposition, if you would, that I sensed were taking me down a destructive road I really didn’t want to go, but a road that drew me like a magnet.
My story isn’t of the dramatic kind that sells books but it is remarkable to me that in the midst of a storyline going wrong God broke in and, today, a whole lot of years later I can truthfully say, “The Master of the Sea heard my despairing cry and from the waters lifted me; now safe am I.”
What’s your story? Whatever it is God is able to enter into the storyline, even for those sinking deep in sin and who are deeply stained within. The story of the Gospel is the story of God hearing our despairing cry and moving into our lives by grace.
God has this unique way of lifting people from the waters and taking them into the safety of His own life.
I suppose that’s one of the reason it’s called Good News.
Forward Still,
Pastor Rick
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