“In Christ alone my hope is found 

He is my light, my strength, my song 

This cornerstone, this solid ground 

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm 

What heights of love? What depths of peace? 

When fears are stilled, when striving cease 

My comforter, my all in all 

Here, in the love of Christ, I stand” 
 

These are just the first two verses of my favorite hymn, and though thoroughly modernized musically today, the words of it still ring true. There is a comfort, a peace, and an intense strength that I feel when I sing these words or hear them in melody. 

In fact, I love them so much, the title "In Christ Alone" is actually tattooed on my forearm much to my mother’s chagrin. It wasn’t something I just decided one day and did the next (nothing against that), but rather for me, it was a very methodical and intentional decision. So why that phrase? What does it mean? 

In college, I went through a particularly dark season where I felt isolated, alone, and wondering if and where the light and joy was going to come from again. I knew Who it came from and tried all I could to push into Jesus, but I couldn’t readily feel his arms around me like I had in other times.

In chapel in college one day, something hit. We sang "In Christ Alone". I had heard it many times, but that day the Lord used it to fill my heart and mind in a way that nothing else had in that season. The soapy suds of truth, comfort, peace, and hope lathered my scuffed up soul exactly as needed. 

After that chapel, I did two things in the following days: 

1. I created a playlist that was just different versions of "In Christ Alone" all the way from an alternative rock version to a lullaby (and I listened to it for pretty much all waking hours of my dark days). 

2. I began writing In Christ Alone in sharpie on the part of my arm that I would eventually ink permanently. I wrote it for 2 years. The season wasn’t dark for 2 years, but writing it stuck for that long. 

It’s not a life verse, but it is a life song. It is a heart anthem that in Christ alone, I do stand, I do find my strength, my hope, my joy, my comfort, my all in all. The words cover everything from death to life and from darkness to light. So my question for you is what have you found to be the medium that the Lord uses to get you through tough seasons? Is it a verse? A song? A repeated prayer? 

Whatever it is, bathe in it and allow His truth to be the lamp to your feet and the light to your path (Psalm 119:105).