The Place Where You Suffer

So there’s this song that has been hitting my soul a lot over the past 24 hours. I’ve had this woman’s music on my iTunes for well over 2 weeks now, and have listened to this song before, yet never heard the true meaning of it until I looked up the lyrics. I have always been one to appreciate music, and even more so the lyrics to those specific tunes. This song really doesn’t come off as one that “sounds” all that exciting, but when you take in the words and listen to the real message, it is beautiful, breathtaking, and gut-wrenching all at once.

For the last few days, the theme in my life has been on relationships. I have been struggling with how I am not only content with my life as a single woman, but truly loving and embracing it at the moment. Having said that, it seems to be easy for non-single people to call out that maybe I need to focus on finding a husband. Hmmm, maybe if I were interested in finding one right now, I would be okay with that statement. BUT, I have no desire to be in a romantic relationship right now. I love the ways God reveals Himself to me in my singleness, and I know that, for me, my relationship with Christ will continue to blossom much more if I don’t add a man to the equation. I’m not saying I never will get married, but I am saying that in this season, it’s really not even on my radar. I just wish it would get off of some other peoples’ radar, too. 

Anyway, because of much of these kinds of conversations coming up in my life,when I heard this song, "Come Close Now", by Christa Wells, I couldn't help but play it over and over and over again because it spoke such truth to me.

“I’m afraid of the space where you suffer

Where you sit in the smoke and the burn
I can’t handle the choke or the danger
Of my own foolish, inadequate words
I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

How often are we afraid of the pain someone else is going through? How often do we think “Man, I’m not going to be able to say anything or do anything that is going to help them, and I sure don’t want to make it harder for them. I think it’s best if I just stay away. I’ll make sure to pray for them, though.”?

Friends, prayer is a GREAT tool. It is how we can interact with God whenever we want and however we want. It’s what He constantly wants us to do because He always wants to be chatting with us. In this scenario, though, when we have people in our lives who we know, but don’t really ever get close to, what does that honestly say about our lives? Even more so, what does it say about our walks with Jesus Christ if ALL we're doing is praying for them? So many times in scripture, He was known to be doing life with people. He hung out with sinners. He spent time with His disciples. He showed He cared by more than saying, “I’ll make sure I talk to my Father about that”, and then just walking away. He sat with them. He ate with them. He listened to their stories.

In today’s world, He would have done more than just send them a sweet message via facebook or twitter or some other social media. He would seek them out. He would let them know He wanted to spend real, actual time with them.

This song’s main focus talks about people going through “fires”, which I will post more on that later. If we think about others’ trials, or just daily living, as fires, it makes it scarier. It makes it more real. It makes it even harder to approach them. Yet, here’s God saying, “Go after them. Go love them. Go sit and talk with them. Or even better, go sit and be silent with them.”

“I’m afraid of the place where you suffer, where you sit in the smoke and the danger” 

We’re afraid to enter in to that place with them. Why? I think the next lines help sum that up.

 “I can’t handle the choke or the danger. Of my own foolish, inadequate words. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

It’s okay to admit that we don’t have the words to make life easier for a friend. Really, we don’t have those healing words that make the pain go away. We don’t have the power to erase pain. Christ does. And HE calls us to love people where they are by being there. By showing interest in them. By going the extra mile to make ourselves available to them. That last line of that verse above is what I keep settling on. Yeah, I don’t have the right words. However, I CAN come sit with you. I CAN make myself available. I CAN let you know by my actions that I really am here. We can all do that. These lyrics sound as if this person went to their friend’s house and, even though their friend is in pain, is saying, “I’m going to be right here for you, if you want to talk or if you just want me to come and sit with you.”

I want to embrace relationships. I want to embrace the opportunities I’m given to love those around me simply with my presence. Most of the time, those hurting friends of ours don’t want words, because they already know we will fail them with those words. What they want is us to be there. To love them. To not give up on them even if they give up on themselves.

Let’s go in and be part of that place where suffering occurs. Let’s go sit right outside and let others know that we’re here for them.