10,000 Reasons

Feb 08, 2013

"10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)"

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore  

I truly have 10,000 reasons and more to thank my Lord and my God. I don't do it nearly enough. I moan, I whine, I gripe about the "woulda coulda shoulda"'s . I find myself feeling entitled to a lot more than I really am, and that makes me a bitter, angry woman....and not at all the woman God created me to be.   One of the most humbling things that I have the privilege of being part of is worship at one of the prison units about an hour away from Little Rock. Imagine over 200 men, all shades, all walks of life, all sizes, some beautiful to look at and some not, in one room. It's sweltering in the summer. It even gets hot in the winter, just not as bad. They are all in the same uniform, what looks like white scrubs, like you'd see on a hospital employee. But these aren't orderlies. They are convicted men. Men who made choices that carried great consequences. These men have chosen to be part of a wonderful program called "Pathway to Freedom", and they dedicate most of their days to study and preparing for release and life outside of prison walls. Many have no skills, their families have left them, they've been in so long that their old friends are no longer around (or the "friends" they had are folks they don't need/want to associate with any longer)...and they PRAISE. These men who have no earthly reason to praise are raising their hands and hearts to the Father of all creation, thanking Him for another chance, asking for the grace to pay their debt to society, asking for the strength to stay hopeful in a hopeless place. I have never been so humbled in my life as I am on these beautiful nights that I get to spend worshipping with men who have allowed God to mend their broken hearts and souls. Many will disagree with me. They condemn these men, and all others who live in prisons. But I say that there are prisons we build for ourselves that are worse than any on this earth. There are men with black hearts who sit in churches every week, while there are men in those rooms at the Wrightsville Men's Unit whose hearts are as pure as snow, thanks to the blood of Jesus.    One of the men from my church family that works with these men at Wrightsville is now a shepherd for our church body. When the opportunity came to him, and many (SO many) submitted his name as a candidate, he questioned himself. He said he felt unworthy because of his past. You see, he too once wore one of those white uniforms. Euel said that maybe because of that, he shouldn't be in a position of leadership in the church. I (and many others) countered that I thought that was the very reason he SHOULD. Who better to minister to a man in prison, than one who has been there himself and by God's grace has made a better life for himself? And besides that,  reminded him that the apostle Paul was a murderer.   At that same worship service, our teaching minister, Cory, shared a story about one of his six (SIX!) boys. They were driving through Texas over the holidays and passed a prison. His son asked, "Daddy, is that where the bad men are?" Cory said, "no, son, that's where there are men who made bad choices are."    Today, I am glad that God forgives me of my choices and reminds me that I am good.   God is good...all the time.   And all the time...God is good.
 

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