I first heard this song a number of years ago and it has resonated with me for a multitude of reasons.  In the last 2 months it has come to mind again and again, playing in my head.

My heart was heavy as my granddaughter lay in an ICU unit following emergency surgery. I was across an ocean from her and her parents, whose pain I had been hearing in their voices. The lyrics so impacted me that I wrote Laura Story, the author, and asked permission to quote the lyrics in full in my blog. That permission was granted via a kind email, but before I could even get to writing I found myself on a plane to Belgium to be with my parents.  Once again, as I traveled through the night, these words reverberated around my head and my heart was calmed.

 Blessings

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Songwriters: Laura Story

Blessings lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

As we pray for peace in Cameroon during troubled times, I am again reminded that God does indeed grant mercies we cannot comprehend. Please pray with us that His mercies would indeed rain down on  the people of this land and that in all that happens we would see his Hand and recognize the mercies that surround us. Perhaps these words can also speak to you.

I am thankful for skilled surgeons and others who gave care to my granddaughter so that she is now a healthy six week-old.  Another mercy not to be taken for granted.

My granddaughter wearing the outfit I bought during my unexpected trip to Belgium.