“Because He Lives” - Gloria Gaither

1942–

We wake each morning to uncertainty. Even on the days we look forward to, we never know what’s going to happen.

Your boss could call you in and tell you the company has to lay off employees and your job is being eliminated. Your doctor could tell you your health, or the health of someone you love, is in danger. You might find that a relationship—with a family member, a friend, or your sweetheart—has struggles you were unaware of. Those are the days when you realize you need more than just your own strength to get you through the day and quite possibly many, many days to come.

Everyone has days like that in their lives, and songwriter and singer Gloria Gaither is certainly no exception. One of Gloria’s best-known songs, “Because He Lives,” was written with her husband, Bill, anticipating the birth of their third child in 1970. It was not a good time to welcome a new life into the world. The recent years had seen riots in the streets, wars across the world, and a moral slide in society. Who could say what kind of world this child would grow up in?

The song powerfully affirms that we can face the future without fear. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. And, as the song’s chorus concludes, “life is worth the living—just because He lives.”

Churches often use this Gaither song on Easter Sunday. While it mentions the “empty grave,” it doesn’t focus on the process of the Resurrection, but the result. Christ is alive, and that changes everything for us. He arose victorious over death, and so we can count on him to win victories for us. Not that he reverses the trials we face, but he sees us through them. We can face tomorrow not because the future looks rosy, but because our Savior stands with us no matter what.

So turn to him in your times of uncertainty. He’ll listen to you through your tears and your fears and your questions, and he’ll reassure you that although you may be unsure about your future, he is not. He holds it—and more importantly, he holds you.

My future is in your hands.

Psalm 31:15