L is for Lift
Hi everyone, and welcome to week 12 of the ABC’s of Contentment. Today’s letter is L and L stands for Lift. Another definition for Lift is to look up. Today’s verse is Psalm 121, 1-2. “I lift up my eyes to the mountain, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” I’ve seen this so many times when I meet with my special needs friends. They really know how to worship. When we sing worship songs, there’s one person in the group who is deaf. During the chorus of “Lord I Lift Your Name On High,” he starts doing sign language and the next thing you know we’re all doing it. My special needs friends aren’t afraid to lift their hands, to dance, or to sing (even if is a little bit off-key!) because they’re just there praising the Lord. They are giving Him their whole hearts because they constantly have to lean on Him for strength; yet they’re very content with what He has provided. For many of them, music is what makes them come alive. My friend Traci told me about today’s song, “With Lifted Hands” by Ryan Stevenson, and I think this song describes a worship scene with my special needs friends well.
It goes:
“With every heartbeat in my chest
Lord, I surrender all that I have
The days yet to come, the days in the past
I’m giving You all that I am
With lifted hands, with lifted hands.”
Amen. Another song that I just heard about from Joni on her website is “Lionheart” by David Francisco and it was so good I thought I’d share it with you. First, let me give you a little background on David. He was paralyzed a from an accident in which he was hit by a distracted driver. Despite that, he still writes music and sings songs, but because he’s been paralyzed, his lyrics are a lot deeper and he’s able help those who are hurting. It was hard to pick my favorite part of that song because the whole thing is so good, so since I don’t have it memorized, I’m just gonna read it, okay? Again, this is called “Lionheart”. It goes:
“I have the heart of a lion
There’s a spirit inside of my bones
that makes me alive
I have a fighting desire
when the darkness is closing in
I’ll be the light
somehow when everything’s wrong
I know I’ll be alright
Just when my faith is gone
hope will arise
Somehow when I can’t move on
I find the strength to survive
Deep within me
is a Lion Heart.”
(And here’s my favorite part of the song, the chorus goes:)
“I may seem weak to the world
I may never be fast or as strong I wanna be
But I am a runner on the inside
and no one can stop me now,
I’m on fire, on fire
You can do more than you know
You can do anything, anything is possible
Do you believe it?
You have the heart of the lion
There’s courage inside of your bones
Don’t you believe?”
Amen. Does that say “Danger,” or what? Perfect song. I can make that my life theme song, right? Anyway, whenever I get discouraged about some of the things that come on with my disability, my mom reminds me to look up by saying, “Focus on what you can do not what you can’t do.” Thanks mom. If I didn’t lift my eyes to the Lord, I would easily get bitter. Lord help me surrender my life to you and give you all that I am because you’re the one who gave me life in the first place. I pray for those who have an ongoing disability that they would learn to embrace it and show the world how easy it is to accept your gift of salvation – like a child. Thank you for my special needs friends who remind me to have the faith of a child. And thank you that my daily hardships cause me to lift my eyes to You. Amen. Well, that’s it for the letter L, everyone and I’ll see you next time when we talk about the letter M. M is for Masterpiece. Bye and God Bless