SANCTUS REAL - “Forgiven”

MATT HAMMITT FROM SANCTUS REAL ON FORGIVENESS

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV NASB

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

I remember once in high school being gathered for our weekly chapel service to hear the Athletic Director give a speech on the word, “Almost.” In it, he discussed how with every 1st place winner, there is always someone who is almost 1st place…otherwise known as 2nd place. His point was that we all experience a time, or many times, when we almost win or almost achieve a goal. He used mostly sports analogies and as a musician, I remember thinking, “this is almost a great speech.”

Apparently it was better than I thought at the time though, because the words are still with me today.

Thinking about this concept of almost, I reminisce on all the things I’ve wanted to accomplish over the years but never did. Maybe I wasn’t skilled enough or didn’t have enough discipline. Maybe I was too weak or gave up too soon. “Almost” becomes a jabbing reminder of what I couldn’t do that someone else could.

I reflect on more recent times; life in the band and all the times we almost have a great show or almost land a huge opportunity. Family life and the days I’m almost a great husband or father, but instead am distracted and consumed by less important things. Almost. Almost. Almost. That word can be such a sad and dark cloud hanging over our heads when attached to our failures.

Think about the word “almost” as it pertains to our relationships with God. Who is 1st place? Who is almost? Are we so driven to accomplish our goals that we forget to take the backseat and rely on God for help and direction? Imagine being face-to-face with Him and saying,

“God, thanks for trying. You’re almost what I need, but I can do this myself.”

It’s a scary thought to tell God he’s not 1st place in our lives, not the answer, not the fulfillment of our needs. Every time we choose to tackle life on our own however, this is basically what’s happening. One of us will be 1st place, and the other will be the almost. If we’re too stubborn to let go of control, we’re telling the almighty God of the universe that he’s the latter. That’s bad news.

Here’s the good news. In God’s infinite wisdom, he actually designed us to be almost. We don’t have to be perfect and faultless. We don’t have to know everything. We’re not meant to act like we do. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness (NKJV).” Isn’t that a relief?

Our song, “Forgiven” came from this sort of revelation. We were talking as a band about the wear and tear of our insecurities and failures. At the end of the conversation we realized that no matter what we are or what we’ve done, in this world, to other people, or even to ourselves, we don’t have to carry the weight. It was a huge burden lifted to remember the truth behind the lyrics, “when I don’t measure up to much in this life, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ.”

It’s so hard to see past our weakness and failures sometimes, or rather the things WE think are weakness and failures. They can corner us…trick us into believing we can’t be used effectively by God. But it’s when he can use us most!

The message we hope to convey in this song is that in striving to live a life pleasing to God, we’ll always have weakness and failure. We’ll always make honest, and not so honest mistakes. It’s part of being human. God’s great promise though is that we can always run into his arms. We’ll always be forgiven.

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