The Face of Heaven

November 11, 2009 by Teri Frana.

Yesterday I heard a song which took me to my knees.  Not sure the last time that happened, but I had to pull my car over.

As most of you know, Steven Curtis Chapman lost his five year old little girl last year in an accident.  His older son ran over her in their driveway.  I saw him at Women of Faith and was blown away by his testimony.  His son was playing drums with him on tour.  He talked about the grief and how it was almost unbearable often.   But, it was opening his eyes to a new side of God he never knew.  The pain was still as bad, but somehow God made it mean something. 

So, his new album is called, “Beauty Will Rise”.  That title alone makes me weep.  Check out this video to hear the song.

The questions which burns in my heart are: “How many people would God need to touch through his testimony to make his pain worth it?”  “What is the cost of changing lives?”  “If God somehow revealed to Steven how much this story and song means to people all over the world would he think it was worth it?”  “How many people are changed from the story of Abraham?  Moses?  Joseph? David?  Jeremiah?  Isaiah?  Job?  Esther?  Mary?  Jesus?  Paul?  Peter?  Was their suffering worth it?”  

Then God started speaking tenderly to me - showing me things about my pain which are bringing meaning in ways I never saw before.  I’ve been so blind - caught up in the self-pity.  And of course, I feel grief over missing some of the “beauty rising” - but mostly just convicted to live it out a little differently as I move forward.  

What cost is too much to see God glorified?  May God put a Heavenly face to your pain today…

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