When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall:
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
Precious Lord, Take My Hand (1932)
By: Thomas A. Dorsey (1899 – 1993)
Listen to this version featuring Mahalia Jackson as you prepare to ponder this hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
We continue our journey through this great gospel song which voices our desire to have God take our hand. We all face depressing times in our lives, times when we need help to make it through, and our precious Lord offers that help. Let’s tune our hearts.
Gray Days
We all have them. Days when the bright luster of life in Christ is clouded by the circumstances we are facing. Think of these words: dull, bleak, lifeless, and depressing. Whether you are feeling that today, you have felt it before and will feel it again. It is a part of life.
The real variable is what you will choose to do when that feeling comes over you.
When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near,
Think of your most recent gray day. Maybe today is one. If not, recall what that felt like. What was your response? Be honest. Don’t feel guilty about it, just admit it. The first step in making a better choice is to acknowledge the one you have previously made.
Was your first inclination to reach out to God, to acknowledge His abiding presence with you, to rest in His purposes? That can be a difficult perspective to maintain, but when we are confident that even the dull and dreary days are working together for our good, it makes them a lot easier to endure. Are you convinced of this promise?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV
Do you know that? Maybe you do, but the weight of that gray cloud just makes moving forward too much on your own. It’s alright to confess that. But follow it up with a plea for a clear sense of our Lord’s presence with you, working those things together for your good. That is not always easy to do, but it will transform your view of the circumstance, and God’s care in it.
RESONATE!
Determine to ask for a sense of God’s nearness the next time the gray clouds gather in your life. Depression is a very foreboding feeling, and we all need help to deal with it. The bright light of His presence can pierce those clouds, but we have to ask just like the hymn does here. Prepare now to ask your precious Lord to help you draw encouragement from His presence the next time the grayness presses in.
Black Nights
Sometimes things get so dark we would be glad to see a blanket of gray clouds instead. Seeing anything but the enveloping blackness of our most difficult nights would be a welcome relief. Anything to give us a sense of hope when all our resources are depleted and we are struggling even to lift our head beyond our navel.
Thomas Dorsey knew what that felt like. While away from home at the time his wife was due to deliver their first child, he learned by way of telegram she had passed after giving birth. His emotions swung between grief and joy as he raced home only to discover his newborn had passed as well.
I can not imagine what he must have felt in those days after he buried them in the same casket. As he struggled in his faith in those dark days, a friend found a room with a piano. God met him as he plunked at the keys and he penned the words of this hymn. One can not help but think his wife and son were very much on his mind as he wrote these words in particular.
When my life is almost gone,
You may never face something as tragic as Dorsey, but you have known darkness pressing into your life. You have felt the last bit of fight and resolve slip away. You can empathize with Dorsey as he echoed the words of the psalmist.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26 ESV
We live in a fallen world so dark, blackness is unavoidable. Even still, God wants to show Himself as our strength and portion in those moments especially. Our strength will fail us and there will come a day when all we will have left is our standing in God. On that day, we will be very needful of God’s care to face the end of life as we know it, that of our loved ones, and ultimately our own.
God is our portion, forever. Not just for this life but also for all that He has in store for us beyond it. Where will you turn when you face the black certainty of death. Going to the One who holds life in His hands is always the best decision, but will be a more difficult one if you wait until this last day, and you will forfeit the hope you can have in Him along your journey even in the darkest ones.
RESONATE!
Are you ready to face the blackest nights of life? Where will you turn when death rears its inevitable head? God is always with us, but when the blackness presses in, it can be difficult to feel it. When your flesh and heart are failing what we need more than anything else is to rest in the fact the God is our strength and our portion forever. That awareness will be everything you need to face even the blackest nights. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you walk daily with a growing awareness of the nearness of God.
Jesus, thank You for being my strength when my life is almost gone. Cause me to become more aware of your presence every day so when my flesh and heart fail me, I will have learned to rest in You forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Attentive Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 20.2 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall:
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
Every one of us has faced times that our journey has become very dreary. We can still move forward, but the weight of everything at times simply seems to be too much. Ask the Lord to help you draw encouragement from His precious presence in those moments especially.
Lord, help me draw encouragement from Your presence.
He is always with us, but sometimes we do not feel it. When the end of this life approaches we are especially needful of a keen awareness of God’s nearness, but we should not wait until then to develop it. Ask Jesus to help you walk daily more aware of His nearness.
Jesus, help me walk daily with more awareness of Your nearness.
If we have failed to walk daily with Him, we can still call on Him or cry out to Him when we sense we may be about to fall and hurt ourselves and/or others. He is gracious and will answer us if we will humble ourselves. Ask the Spirit now to help you be ready to cry out to Him not if You need Him, but when.
Spirit, help me be ready to cry out to You when I need You.
When we do cry out and call on Him, He will take our hand and keep us from falling, or help us up. But He does not stop there. He wants us to stay attuned to His leading so that He can lead us through those dangers and ultimately all the way home.
God, take my hand and lead me home.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, Be Resonant.
The post What To Do in Gray Days and Black Nights appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
Gray Days – https://pixabay.com/photos/storm-clouds-clouds-thunderstorm-426271/
Black Nights – https://pixabay.com/photos/starry-sky-star-galaxies-andromeda-1654074/
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