Last night as I lay in bed, the words to this song began to wash over me. I’ve loved the song for a while now, but oh, the meaning it has now. To me, it feels like Samantha’s new theme song. Or maybe it’s mine.

Chris Tomlin’s “I Will Rise”

There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say “It is well”

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Most of the time I have this sense of peace about our situation, and it is completely from God. Who else could give it at a time like this? When I was in college, I helped with a youth gathering we organized every year for junior high kids. The one year, the theme was “How Big is God?” By the end of the gathering, the leadership decided not to use a question for a theme again, because of the temptation to answer it. I think that’s our human nature. The great questions of this life, about suffering and pain, about purpose and meaning, those questions of where do we come from, where are we going, why are we here, why do bad things happen to good people, where is God in the midst of our pain… To be human is to ask these questions. And in our sinful, fallen arrogance, we attempt to answer them. We want resolution. We want answers. We want to wrap it up with a nice bow and feel smug in our understanding. But one of the things I’ve come to realize over the past few years is that finding peace in not having answers is what faith is all about. We don’t know when Christ will return. We don’t know the mind of God. It is human to ask the questions, but it is only in God, and only in eternity, that the answers exist.