When the Saints

recorded by Sara Groves

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the Man of Sorrows and His long troubled road
I see the world on His shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I heard this tonight as I was driving home with our dinner (Chinese), and thinking of my own road, the journey I've been on during this life. And the unknown that awaits me further on.

I thought to myself that perhaps there are some that would have given up if they had the journey I've had. And I felt the Lord say, "Yes, many would. But not you."

I know I haven't faced persecution or any real hardship, in the truest sense of the word, but I have had my troubles. Challenges to overcome.

I think each of us is unique, and each of us has our own stuff to deal with. What might seem easy to one, might be the hardest thing for another to face.

And some of us do give up.

But some of us keep walking.