Mercies in disguise

When I first heard this song on the radio, I felt like it was written for me. I get so frustrated when I don't feel you, God. And that last line - "the rain, the storms, the hardest nights..." - touches an ache in my own heart. I remember that night in Port Elizabeth on my bunk in the dark. My heart pounding. Panic. Wondering where you were and what was happening. Tossing over and over in my mind thoughts of mom not being in my life anymore. That is the longest, hardest night I have lived through. I remember the rain. Pouring down on us, as if the skies had opened up. I felt so small in Africa. And alone. I remember the suffering. The sleepless nights. The tears. Thousands of tears. I doubted you and I couldn't understand why you were letting darkness win. But walking through those trials taught me things about you I couldn't have learned any other way. I learned about your character and your faithfulness. I matured and my faith matured. I still don't understand why things happened the way they did, but now I can see your hand in that part of my story. I can see that your blessings did come through those Africa-sized raindrops. Your healing did come through my tears on those long red roads in the Eastern Cape. Your mercy did come through the trials I faced then and still face. God, you are always faithful. You never give up on me even when I doubt you. I know that the aching of this life can't be healed on earth. But just like that pristine beach at the end of the path in Coffee Bay where you gave me rest, I know that when this life is through and I come home to you, you will finally heal all the hurts of this life and give my soul peace. You love me way too much to give me lesser things.

Blessings - Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise