When Everything Falls Apart — What Do You Say?
When everything falls apart, is there anything that brings comfort? What we find in that moment is the very thing we can offer to each other.
Album: Hope Rising
Year: 2009
Title: Everything Falls
Last week, I wrote about putting down my magic slate when life doesn’t turn out the way I expected.
The response was overwhelming. There were hundreds of comments posted. It wasn’t merely the numbers which caught my heart. There were plenty of Plan B stories to go around. And then, some.
It was heart breaking to read all the serious and heavy challenges facing us all. I couldn’t help but say to God, “There’s so much pain and suffering. How do you deal with so many people’s lives that are unraveling? What do you say?”
I usually try to email and respond to reader comments as best as I can. But this time, I felt drawn to just pray and ask God to bring the comfort of His presence.
We need to know you are in it with us, dear God.
In response, God brought a song to play in my head. Does that ever happen to you?
When you feel burdened, does God give you a song, too?
When Everything Falls
Today, I’d like to share the song, Everything Falls, by Christian rock band Fee.
Everything Falls is a song that I hope will bring some measure of comfort and God’s presence. I hope the music and the lyrics carry you to the place inside where you feel God close.
It did for me.
when everything falls apart, your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart, you’re the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong, you keep holding on,
You keep holding on.
If you’ve been through a trying time when it seemed everything fell apart, what brought you comfort?
Please comment and share.
Feel free to share some words, a song, a poem, a verse, or anything that inspires you.
I’ll be emailing the readers who commented and point them to today’s post and your comments. Let’s encourage each other!
I thought I was the only one that has ever felt so lost. I know it’s crazy, but I did. But, here we are sharing the journey. And I’m more grateful knowing you are here to share the comfort.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
Hope Rising
"Everything Falls"
Lyrics By Fee
You said
you'd never leave or forsake me
when you said,
this life is gonna shake me
you said
this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul
this I know
Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
when I see
darkness all around me
when I see
that tragedy has found me
I still believe
your faithful arms will never let me go
and still I know
Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
Bridge:
Sorrow will last for the night
but hope is rising with the sun
(it’s rising with the sun)
there will be storms in this life
but I know you will overcome
but I know you will overcome
Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
your the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
Chorus:
when everything falls apart
your arms hold me together
when everything falls apart
you're the only hope for this heart
when everything falls apart
and my strength is gone
I find you mighty and strong
you keep holding on
you keep holding on
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To read about the story behind the song, "Everything Falls", click here.
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The people who comforted me the most have always been the ones who’ve endured pain in the past. They are the ones who know that you don’t have to say anything, and who NEVER spouted cliches. They understood the power of their wordless understanding presence. Just a look into their eyes showed how much they grasped my turmoil and pain and accepted me as I was in the moment. Being seen so deeply and understood so thoroughly poured so much strength into my soul. It was safe to cry with them – I didn’t have to keep up appearances. It was safe to utter my fears and doubts with them.
I pray that one day I can be that person for someone else. Yet I know that I could never be that without having experienced it myself. One of those mysteries of God, I guess.
You will be … in fact, you already are being that person by sharing your experience. Making it safe to doubt and fear. Safety for the another to be completely accepted. Love in action.
I have to say that everything fell apart for me this year. Someone I thought would be with me to the end was deceived by the evil one — and has left me. I’m not a kid and just never imagined life without her.
So, with anguish, i go about my day – in a trance, a zombie. I have been writing through the pain, and my writing has felt good and I think been rich. But my heart continues to hurt…
I asked, “How did I get here” — wrote about it here:
http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-did-i-get-here-lessons-from-someone.html
.-= David @ Red Letter Believers´s last blog ..On the hinge of time — Do we really need to rewrite history? =-.
You can be blessed and still be hurting. We often think they are mutually exclusive. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…
love that song and God totally speaks to me through songs often!! praying for this community right alongside you…
.-= Katy´s last blog ..word filled wednesday =-.
That’s a blessing, Katy.
Sometimes things happen in each of our lives, when we cry out to Him from a place deep within us, a place that no one else knows about– except for you and God….and we can always be assured that He hears us.
One of my all time favorite songs is by Scott Krippayne. The song is, Sometimes He Calms The Storm.
***Sometimes He calms the storm with a whisper, “Peace be still”. He can settle any sea, but it doesn’t mean He will……Sometimes He calms the storm, other times He calms His child.” ***
I don’t know this song — Thank you for sharing it, Dawn!
“Sometimes He calms the storm, other times He calms His child.”
Love this .. and the words you shared… “no one else knows about except for you and God…”
When I feel like everything is falling apart, I try to take a deep breath and breathe in God’s unconditional love and support. A few minutes of concentrating hard, with my eyes closed and slow steady breathing, helps me feel his awesome presence. Then it becomes easy to transfer the burden, no matter how big or how small, and let it just go to him. I am always in awe of the calmness that begins to surround me. I can actually feel the burden moving and I begin to calm down, knowing that I can trust His will. God will take care of the burden and no matter what the outcome, he will be with me to walk through it, with full confidence that it is his choice and completely from him. I always go back to Proverbs 3-36-
“Trust in the Lord with all your hearts, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths”
Our God never fails me. I am so humbled and grateful to be a servant of our Gracious, Glorious God.
Kim Costello
Whittier, CA
I’m so encouraged reading this, Kim. It’s real.
Bonnie…that is such a strong song. Music is one way God speaks to me, and even though I’m way over the hill, these contemporary songs have so much heart. Their words reach right in where it hurts with the truth and light for our journeys. One night recently, an old song from the 70′s (yeah, I’m that old) came to me in the night. I used this song as a devotion at a retreat many years and children ago. It still speaks to me in the darkness of dispair. It’s not from a Christian songwriter; but listening to the words, I think you know he is a man of faith. God speaks everywhere if your ears are tuned to His voice. This one is Crossroads by Don McLean.
Crossroads
Song by Don McLean
I’ve got nothing on my mind, nothing to remember
Nothing to forget, I’ve got nothing to regret
But I’m all tied up on the inside
No one knows quite what I’ve got
And I know that on the Outside
What I used to be, I’m not anymore
You know I’ve heard about people like me
But I never made the connection
They walk one road to set them free
And find they’ve gone the wrong direction
But there’s no need for turning back
‘Cause all roads lead to where I stand
And I believe I’ll walk them all
No matter what I may have planned
Can you remember who I was? Can you still feel it?
Can you find my pain? Can you heal it?
Then lay your hands upon me now
An cast this darkness from my soul
You alone can light my way
You alone can make me whole once again
We’ve walked both sides of every street
Through all kinds of windy weather
But that was never our defeat
As long as we could walk together
So there’s no need for turning back
‘Cause all roads lead to where we stand
And I believe we’ll walk them all
No matter what we may have planned
http://www.don-mclean.com/index.asp
Thanks, Dee. You’re right. It reads like God is in between the lines.
Songs always come at the moment I need them. Music is such a blessing!
10 years ago was when I felt like my life was falling apart. It was a time of questioning myself, my faith, an intense time of re-evaluation.
A year later, I was in a hotel room, on the way to visit my sister, knowing that I needed to know that God was with me. I didn’t know what to say, but I tried. A voice interrupted my faltering thoughts and permeated my soul. The words spoken to me? “I love you anyway.” I love you anyway. Isn’t that why Jesus went to the cross? Isn’t that why God led the Israelites out of Egypt and continued to provide for them even though they kept turning away from him? Yes, all of Christianity is based on the thought that no matter what, God loves us anyway.
A couple of months later, I found myself at a mountain top church in Bogota, Colombia. As I stepped into the sanctuary, God’s presence was overwhelming. As I wondered the church grounds, I found the stations of the cross along a winding garden path. By the time I got to the end of that path, I was in tears. I already knew (really KNEW) God’s redemption, but I was what was to come. There in that place, He was telling me that he wasn’t only in America. God is in Colombia, He is in Asia, He is in Africa, He is everywhere. I came back refreshed and changed. I knew without a doubt that going forward, whereever that may be, I would be taken care of. And that’s where I am today.
My life has taken a turn that I never would have expected, but I have been blessed beyond measure because of that turn. And God was with me every step of the way. It only took a hotel room and a mountain top church to realize it.
.-= Rachel @ the science of music´s last blog ..culture clash =-.
It’s utterly powerful and personal, Rachel. A hotel room and mountain top church are now your faith touchstones.
I love when God answers me by giving me a song. It doesn’t matter if it’s a song of praise, worship, or even lament…I know it’s from Him and it always ministers to my spirit.
.-= Kristine McGuire´s last blog ..SOAP ~ John 15:1-8 =-.