Here Comes The Sun

Continuing to look at some of my favorite secular songs and putting a faith-based spin to them, I figure there is no way I can do something like this and not include my favorite Beatles song...EVA!!!

It can be tough to make sense of some of their music, but one thing you can always count on is there will be a catchy tune to go along with the lyrics. This particular song is my favorite of theirs because I love being out in nature and this song just screams nature to me. I think about a beautiful spring or fall morning after a really cool night. There is a little fog on the ground that burns away to reveal rolling hills filled with wildflowers. The coolness gives away to the sun's warmth and a hint of a breeze makes it a gorgeous day. The kind of morning you'd like to see sitting next to your spouse on a big, wrap-around porch with a warm cup of tea in hand. I could do that every morning and never get bored of it, I promise!

But the lyrics also bring to mind a message of hope...

Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter.
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here.
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's alright.

Little darling, the smile's returning to their faces.
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here.
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's alright.

There is a lot of suffering that goes on in the world, and it's pretty easy to focus on the bad things that are happening to us and also to the world around us. Listen to the nightly news for 10 minutes and prepare to be depressed about the sorry state of the world. I think that's why some people find it really hard to believe in God. They can't reconcile a God who loves them more than anything and yet allows so much bad to go on...or that He would be willing to allow any of us to end up in Hell.

But I promise you that through all of that pain and all of that suffering that happens in the world, so much more good gets done and I believe that more good than we can realize comes from even one single instant of suffering. Some scripture that speaks to hope...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -- Romans 15:13 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -- Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. -- Job 11:18 NIV

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -- Isaiah 40:30-31

I believe in God's message of hope, that He loves us enough to give us the freedom to choose for ourselves, and that at the end of any long, cold night or any trying and stormy season in our lives comes a time when the sun shines so brilliantly that it is almost impossible to look into it. That's the hope I get from the Beatles song...the sun is coming back out, the smiles are returning to our faces, and it's going to be alright.