Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Not to diminish the significance of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Princesses Meghan, but I think all weddings are royal and some of them are Divine. Those weddings that God puts together are truly Divine and as I viewed a portion of the wedding ceremony that took place today I received a message the I believe was truly Divine.
The message came at the point where the choire sang, “Stand By Me”, because it reminded me of an event that I was recently involved in. I stood beside a grieving mother; in fact, there were two grieving mothers and perhaps a third. There were also some grandparents and others. I want to emphasize that I had the privilege of standing by these people. They requested that I speak, however, I do not emphasize the words that I spoke. I simply emphasize the fact that I was privileged to be there to stand by them in one of their darkest hours.
The song also reminded me of a time when I was experiencing some darkness. IIt was, “Sun-day”, but for what I was experiencing, it might as well have been called, “Dark-day”. I was an Assistant Pastor at a Church. My title was, “Assistant to the Pastor”, but I was actually performing the role of an Assistant Pastor. I was scheduled to preach at 11:00am. The Church did not know it but I was experiencing a time of deep darkness. My brother Randy, who attends another Church, took time from his schedule to come and sit in the congregation. They did not know why he was there but I knew why. He had come to stand by his brother. He didn’t say anything. Words were not necessary. It was the fact that he was there.
Like all couples and families, my wife and I have experienced a few rough water; very rough waters. We do not have many of those, but the waters were so rough that I wondered if we would make it, but each time we made it. All we had to do was to stand by each other. Life is not always easy but thank God who come and stand by us. The beauty of it is that when we come and stand by those who are going through some kind of darkness, we come with all we have. We come with any resources we have that might lift there burdens. Most importantly, we just come and stand silently. Of course, there have been other times and other people, other family members (thank God for a wonderful family) but the point is that when God puts somebody on our hearts I pray that he give us the grace to stand by each other.
“When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I won’t be afraid
No I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
No I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Stand by…”
Life Step Ministries 