Lucy Grimble
“I've been leading worship and writing songs for over 10 years, both as a solo artist and with my talented band of musicians and singers. My heart in worship is simply to create a space for people to encounter the love of God. In my worship expression and the songs I write, I want to create a sound that unites people and ignites hearts to love God, love themselves and love one another more.”
“Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
— Luke 1:78-79
The theme of light and darkness runs throughout the scriptures.
Jesus is referred to as the light of heaven (Revelation 21:23). In 2 Samuel 23:4, the Lord is described as “…like dawn's first light, like bright sun blazing on a cloudless morning, glistening on grassland that flourishes after a rain shower.” And yet, God who Himself is full of light, also is acquainted with dark places. Jesus’ walk from Gethsemane to the cross is the darkest experience any human has ever gone through. He stared into the literal heart of darkness and did not shy away from it in order to display His love for us. Psalm 139:12 says “but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.” (NLT) There is a sense of God entering our own places of darkness, to empathise and meet with us in those places in order to heal and deliver us from them.
This tension between light and dark literally also permeates our every day. From the breaking of the sun over the horizon at dawn, to the descent into darkness as dusk turns to night, the dance of shadow and light plays out from the days beginning to end, illuminating, hiding, revealing and covering what is in its path.
As I was writing this album, it was this theme of interplay between dark and light, what it reveals and hides, that became a central narrative for the songs.
Our experience as we journey through life is essentially always between the shadow and the sun - a constant intermingling of pain, sorrow, joy and celebration within ourselves and the world around us. None of us can escape the touch of the sun, nor the shadow. And yet, the consistency of God pulling us through, is what guides us. And the invitation through every experience and circumstance and season is to grow in trusting God.
Deepening our trust is far from easy, and with this album I wanted to be honest about the wrestle that faith so often is.
The constant choice we have to make to die to ourself and our best ideas in order to be led by the Lord. The hard decisions we have to make to turn towards the Lord even in the midst of our deepest losses and trials.
These are not choices and decisions that always come easily and I really believe that God is patient and kind with us in that process, and ultimately delighted with us when we choose to put our faith in Him and not ourselves or our circumstances.
I also think that God has a huge capacity for our honesty.
He isn’t put off by our own internal shadow side (those places we keep hidden out of guilt and shame and yet where Jung says the gold lays in waiting). Those darker places in ourselves are just places waiting to be redeemed by Jesus and brought into the light of His healing, love and salvation.
My hope with this album is that whether you find yourself listening to this album in shadow or sun, that you will find empathy, and the beauty that is to be discovered in every season of the soul.
For He truly holds us in the shadow and the sun.
Lucy Grimble | Ready For The Dawn
Lead Ready For The Dawn with your congregation.