Be With Me Now - A Pathway to Christmas, Part 4
Paulina Wofford, singing Breath of Heaven in
Anything Can Happen, Dramatic Musical
performed by Glasgow Church
"Be with me now," sang the young actress, fully embodying her World War II character, Eleanor. It was Christmas Eve, 1944, and Eleanor had not received any word from her soldier boy Ralph for months. The news from the Front was never good, and her heart took her to the darkest place of fear and grief.
Her interpretation of Eleanor's fear swept me back to the moments in my own life where I prayed, wept and pleaded similarly, "Help me be strong, Be Forever Near Me, Help me, Help me."
The words of this song poignantly capture what Mary, the mother of Jesus, may have cried on her journey to Bethlehem, during the birth of her son, and then as she raised him in a community far from home. I see her in private moments, expressing her fear, her desperate cries for His help.
This song not only reflects Mary's heart, but easily connects with any woman struggling to see her circumstances as her platform for glorifying God. Though my deepest grief shook my world in 1993, I still resonate with the cry, "I am frightened by the load I bear....must I walk this path alone? Be with me now, Be with me now."
This is a prayer uttered in isolation, in the secret parts of the heart by women every where who are desperately trying to hold their lives together, for their own sakes, but more for the sakes of those they love, the ones depending on them to walk strong down the middle of the battlefield.
We cry, "Hold me together. Be forever near me....Lighten my darkness.....Pour over me your holiness.... Breath of Heaven....."
Prayers for the ears of our Father only. No one but the Father hears the prayers of women like these friends:
A mother whose son died suddenly the week before Christmas whispers:
Breath of heaven, hold me together, Be forever near me
The Cancer Fighter who learns the current treatment isn't working and is so weary of the battle cries out: -
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness...Be with me now.
The mother whose daughter continues to reject the faith of her childhood and makes risky choices pleads:
Breath of heaven, pour over me your holiness....For you are holy....Be with me now.
The single mom, trying to pay the bills, not sure if she will have enough money for gas, let alone food, quietly whispers her fears:
I am frightened by the load I bear....be with me now....
The woman held back by chronic illness, silently living in constant discomfort, gasps in between thrusts of sharp pain:
Breath of Heaven, Help me be strong......
The beauty of the message of this song is that it is a universal cry of the soul and emanates from the bedrock promise of God's presence, threaded throughout all of Scripture. He promises,
"Fear not, I will never leave you..."
When the cry of a broken woman is, "
Be with me now....."
she can plead for this help and know the help is coming, because His promise to us is the same as His promise to Mary:
Fear Not, I am with you.
For my hurting friends, listen once more to this raw message of help and hope, coming to us through the gift of music. Give yourself permission to cry out to Him, to cry out your fears, your doubts, anger, disappointments, and then slump wearily into His arms where you can rest in the confidence that if you are His daughter, you are In His Grip, He will never leave you or forsake you. Let your tears cleanse your soul, just for a moment, and help you surrender to trusting Him on this platform on which He has placed you.
Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant.
One more teaching moment from Mary. Mary's response to the angel's announcement could be misleading: "I am the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be to me as you have said." Surely such submission results in fearless living and diminished pain. Yet immediately after Mary surrendered to God's call on her life she experienced her life turned upside down. What did she do? She ran to a woman further ahead of her in life's journey, her cousin, Elizabeth. There she found reassurance, acceptance and I imagine hours of conversation that helped turn her heart to trusting God in this mysterious journey. This one chapter of Mary's life reminds us that one of God's greatest gifts is community with other believers. Seek out a trustworthy friend, further ahead of you in life's journey, and give her permission to encourage and exhort you with God's truth. One way God keeps His promise of His presence is through others who remind us of His truths and help us find our way.
Find a quiet spot, close your eyes and let His love wash over you. If God has called you to a hard place, He has promised He is with you on that pathway.
In His grip with you,
Sharon
Breath of Heaven
I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy father you have come
And chosen me now to carry your son
I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now
Be with me now
Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
Do you wonder as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me
Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
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