Nathan Tasker Music

This past week has been a blur – so many emails, Facebook messages, meals delivered, visits from good friends – but not so much of a blur that we haven’t connected with a depth of sorrow never experienced before.

Tragic events have always caused me to ask questions of God, questions that have led me back to Scripture searching for answers in the midst of difficulty and pain. Sometimes it is on the behalf of others that I search, & of recent months the questions became personal due to the death of my father-in-law. It found me looking for a glimpse of “home” in the promises of God - hence the reason for the album title of “Home”.

However, this past week my heart has been too heavy for movement of any kind. Under the weight of a sorrow that makes no sense, I struggle to convince my heart to move forward & to search for answers. Instead it has been a week of crying out.

With no clear answers in sight I’m reminded of Job as he sat on the rubbish dump of life and mourned. His friends came to visit him and for the first week they simply sat, without a word, sharing in his sufferings. Unfortunately for Job (& for his friends, by the end of the book) they felt the urge to open their mouths and suggest some answers as to why Job was experiencing such loss. Perhaps they were hoping to console him? Maybe they just liked feeling as if they had the answer when Job did not? Whatever the case, their help was as effective as a pair of concrete shoes for a drowning man…

Thankfully my close friends here in Nashville have sat with me in my sorrow, sharing my grief, & by their presence alone, brought me comfort beyond words.

Along with them, I have literally received 100’s of messages from so many friends around the world this past week – some I know as well as I know myself, others I have had the privilege of meeting only once or twice, and even more messages have come from people I have yet to meet (but hope to someday).

The messages have had similar content one after the other that I have appreciated - sadness at hearing our news, promises of prayer, & a longing for us to know how loved we are in spite of all we are experiencing now.

These messages surround me like a great crowd of witnesses - offering up prayers when I can’t pray, reminding me of great love when I can’t see it, offering verses to light my way even as I stumble through the darkest night.

These messages are like little bottles of hope washing up on the shore of my life reminding me I am not alone.

And for this I am grateful to each & every one of you who has written & visited.

I can’t remember who said it, but I am reminded of the truth of this quote: “Christ on the lips of my brother is often stronger than the Christ in my own heart”

Thank you for holding me up when I have found it hard to stand…
Nt.