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“It’s Time” by Wayne Watson

24 Mar

It happened many years ago
The memories still haunt you though
And who’s to blame, you really don’t know
You’re just locked all alone in these chains

Some times it’s hard to live at all
The pictures of your history call
Your mind’s a decorated wall
But the Lord has the cure for your pain

It’s time, come back to the land of the living
Come home to the land of the forgiving
Jesus will be faithful to the end

It’s time, break the tangled webs that bind you
Let the grace of God unwind you
Give the Lord your broken heart to mend
It’s time, it’s time

You’ve had your little victories
But perfection’s pretty hard to please
And guilt is an annoying breeze
That blows all that’s peaceful away

And life is too short to go on living like this
Or to brood over who’s done you wrong
If the years pass you by, look at all that you’ll miss
You’ve been walking in shadows too long

It’s time, come back to the land of the living
Come home to the land of the forgiving
Jesus will be faithful to the end

Written by Wayne Watson

Dear God, there are a lot of people who need the message of this song. I still remember getting this CD when is came out in 1992. It was a new song on his greatest hits album, “How Time Flies.” I also remember playing it for a friend with a difficult past. Yesterday morning, after not having heard or thought of it for literally a couple of decades, for some reason it came to mind. I played it while I was getting ready for work and it always amazes me how lyrics come back to me instantly. You have done something unbelievable in our minds when it comes to music.

So this morning, I sing this song for myself. I sing it for those I love. I sing it for the people in the meeting yesterday who showed up angry. A lot of the pain that controls us does so because we keep it a secret. So I pray that you would destroy the power of their/our secrets by safely exposing them to someone trustworthy in each of our lives. Expose and remove our shame. Along with the exposure, replace the shame, guilt, anger, depression, fear, sadness, etc. with the fruits of your Holy Spirit. Father, it’s time. Help us, please.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 24, 2022 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Home Free” by Wayne Watson

12 Jun

“Home Free” by Wayne Watson

I’m trying hard not to think you unkind
But Heavenly Father
If you know my heart
Surely you can read my mind
Good people underneath the sea of grief
Some get up and walk away
Some will find ultimate relief

Home Free, eventually
At the ultimate healing we will be Home Free
Home Free, oh I’ve got a feeling
At the ultimate healing
We will be Home Free

Out in the corridors we pray for life
A mother for her baby, A husband for his wife
Sometimes the good die young
It’s sad but true
And while we pray for one more heartbeat
The real comfort is with you

You know pain has little mercy
And suffering’s no respecter of age, of race or position
I know every prayer gets answered
But the hardest one to pray is slow to come
Oh Lord, not mine, but Thy will be done
Let it be…

Home Free, eventually
At the ultimate healing gonna be Home Free
Home Free, oh its more than a feeling
At the ultimate healing
Gonna be Home Free

Songwriters: Bernard Sumner / Gillian Lesley Gilbert / Peter Hook / Stephen Paul David Morris

Dear God, I think I first heard this song around 1992 or 1993. I was a sales rep for Word, the label for Wayne Watson at the time, and I remember being really struck by the words to this song. Now, 26-ish years later, I know it word for word. The amazing thing is how little death I have experienced from my family of origin. At 49, on my side of the family, I haven’t lost anyone beyond grandparents. My parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all still living. But I have watched my wife and her family suffer terrible and tragic losses. The hardest for her was her mother, but she only has one biological aunt remaining, having lost three uncles. Two of her cousins have lost children in horrible accidents. Tragic.

Then there are times when I read a Facebook post like this morning’s from a distant high school friend who lost her mother yesterday. She has simply posted this meme.

I know that’s so true after walking that path with my wife nine years ago–and even still today. So this prayer is for this high school friend, my wife, and everyone else I know who has experienced loss like this recently, including my friend who, last week, discovered his adult daughter, who had died overnight, and the other friend who lost her adult son in a car accident just last week.

Father, you are our ultimate comfort and hope. Help us to know what that means. Help my friends and my wife to discover that hope in a new way. Reveal to us your truth. And let us not forget that it’s okay for us to suffer in loss through death. Jesus suffered too when friends died. Something within us builds around them, and when they are removed it’s just huge. And obviously there’s nothing worse than a child or a parent dying, followed closely I would imagine by spouses and then siblings. Regardless, for these friends and my wife, please comfort them. Help them to just sink into your arms. They will mourn. They will be devastated. Help them to know that it’s okay. They don’t have to rationalize it. They don’t even have to try to convince themselves of the truth of this son so that they will “feel better.” Be their God. Help them to find their comfort in you through others around them.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2019 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Peter & John — 2 Peter 1:1-2

24 Jan

2 Peter 1:1-2 NIV
[1] Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: [2] Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Dear God, I just finished 1 Peter yesterday talking about how he was wishing them peace, and now I see that he leads off this letter wishing them grace and peace. I know that the idea of unearned grace is unique to Christianity. I wonder how much the offering of peace is unique to it as well.

While I was talking about peace yesterday, I started thinking about the songs and hymns that I could think of that reference peace. Two came to mind instantly. The first is called “The Peace That Passes Understanding” (written by Claire Cloninger and Wayne Watson and performed by Wayne Watson). Here are the lyrics.

“The Peace That Passes Understanding”

Seasons of my soul
They come and go
But as they slip away
I know something else remains
That will not change

Places in my heart
Are torn apart
But in my brokenness, I find
That something stays behind
That will not change

The peace that passes understanding
Is a blessing that will never fade away
The peace that passes understanding
Is here to stay
The peace that passes understanding
Never passes away

Lord, in times of old
My heart had known
With quiet words of your tender love
And your gentle touch
That changes me

Even through the storm
I’m safe and I’m warm
Lord, You have comforted me
With grace in Your hiding place
I am at peace
Peace comes like the dawn
Peace that the world
Can’t understand
You take my hand and I stand
The waters may fall

The peace that passes understanding
Is a blessing that will never fade away
The peace that passes understanding
Is here to stay
The peace that passes understanding
Never passes away
Oh oh, oh oh

The peace that passes understanding
Is a blessing that will never fade away
The peace that passes understanding
Is here to stay
The peace that passes understanding
Never passes away

The other song is a hymn I’ve journaled about before, “It Is Well With My Soul,” written by Horatio Spafford after the tragic loss of his children at sea. Here are the lyrics. They start with “peace.”

“It Is Well With My Soul”

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul

It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Father, storms will come. I will be pressed, but I can have peace in you. And even if I am ultimately crushed and my earthly life ends, I will be with you and it will be well with my soul. Thank you for offering this to all of us through your son.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2019 in 2 Peter, Hymns and Songs, Peter and John

 

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