Song of the Week: Worship Song about Meeting God in the Middle
What if the place you're praying to escape is the very place where God is teaching you to trust Him the most? We all want to experience a breakthrough. We long for healing, joy, answered prayers and for God to deliver us from the hard times we face. But most of our lives aren't lived at the beginning, or even the end. We are living in the middle.
Most of us, me especially, love the beginning of the story. When everything is fresh. Hope is present, faith is strong and life is going well. The ending not so much. The ending is where God brings restoration, but to get there, we have to go through the middle.
The middle is where prayers seem unanswered.
The middle is where healing hasn't come.
The middle is where faith is tested.
Yet that's exactly where James tells us to "count it all joy." When you're facing trials. Count it all joy. When you get the job promotion you have dreamed of. Count it all joy. When you face a big life decision. Count it all joy. Easier said than done, right? Through life's ups and downs, God is faithful, even in the middle.
James 1: 2-4, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Not because the middle is comfortable, but because the middle is where growth happens. God is accomplishing something we can't yet see. Every difficult day deepens our faith and makes us more like Christ.
That's what makes the song In the Middle by Jonathan David Helser so powerful. It reminds us that the middle isn't empty space between miracles, it's where God is actively at work.
"In the middle of the storm, You are the peace
In the middle of the desert, You are my stream
In the middle of my mess, You wash my feet
In the middle of it all, here You are
Oh Lord, You'll never leave"
Right from the beginning, this song gets the point across. God is with you through thick and thin. He never even considers walking away or leaving us. Through the middle, He is with us.
Our joy isn't rooted in our circumstances, it is rooted in the truth of who God is and what we know about Him. This song reflects this beautiful truth. The song doesn't give false hope that every problem will disappear as soon as you ask God to get you through it. It is built on the truth that, through it all, God is faithful and with you. Even before circumstances change, His presence is enough and we are called to "count it all joy." This is the kind of joy that is described in the verses. It is a joy anchored in God's character rather than our comfort.
Maybe "counting it all joy" doesn't mean putting on a fake smile while you are falling apart. It means choosing to believe that even in the middle, God is working. The middle isn't a pause in God's plan for you, it is where His greatest work begins.
Count it all joy!
