As I was sitting in Clayton Chapel last week listening to and lifting songs of praise up to our Father, some of them just really caught my attention. My heart and soul just poured out the words, and I wanted to share a few of them.

1. Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

This song is so beautiful and depicts so well the beauty that we can find in the hard situations and in the good ones. We have to remember to turn to Him and praise in the land that is plentiful AND in the desert place. We have to remember that through every blessing, we will praise Him and when He takes away, we will praise Him. Even if the darkness is closing in and we don’t know how we’re going to make it through the valley, our hearts MUST choose to say: blessed be the name of the Lord.

2. Someday

Someday this world will not be our home anymore; Heaven will be our Home. And SOMEDAY we will get there. There will be peace and joy and happiness and NO MORE SORROW.. someday. We have to be ready when He calls our name… someday. Someday, the trumpets are going to sound, the dead will rise, and we’ll walk the streets of gold. And it’s going to be a beautiful day. When the darkness is closing in, think about how that someday that could be any time. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

3. The Lord Has A Will

Humbly be still and look to the Lord. Ask, seek, and knock to find His Will. Rest in it and fully be blessed in it. When the darkness closes in, look to His Will; look to the purpose you were put on this earth. Look for the opportunities to spread the joy and love of Jesus—His Will will follow that purpose.

4. He Gave Me a Song

Our God gave us a song to sing about. He gave us a reason to always have pure JOY. Joy because our Jesus gives us hope—hope for a better tomorrow and hope for eternity. Hope that even when the darkness closes in, we can look to Him for guidance and peace. Hope that someday in that fair land we will sing with the chorus grand that wonderful song I know can sing with all of those that have gone before us and those who we miss so dearly. He gave us a song of hope.

5. Farther Along

We wonder so often, "why us?" God, why do these things have to happen to us when we are doing our very best to live the way You want us to live? But we can be reassured that we will understand it all by in by. We will understand it when it is time to be understood. When we see Jesus coming in glory to take us Home with Him — that is when we will understand it. This moment of completion, of crossing the finished line. When the darkness is closing in, picture all of us meeting on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by. What a sweet, sweet picture that is.