How to Save a Life

So today we were driving home from the church picnic (awesome time by the way) and this song came on the radio. We were listening to 'The Message' on Sirius radio so I knew that there had to be some sort of Christian overtone to this song and I was so curious about it because it had never come across as a song of faith to me.  To be honest it always reminded me of Grey's Anatomy.  I don't remember all of the times they used it but I do remember the one that stuck out in my mind the most.   The episode was very emotionally charged and very uniquely done as the cast sang numerous songs through out it. It was the one when they were trying to save one of the doctors as well as her unborn baby. And I'm sure you can imagine that the 'unborn baby' part was what struck such a cord in this episode for me.
Anyway, like I said, I had never thought there were any Christian ties to this song and so curiosity got the best of me and I had to look it up.  Turns out it actually doesn't have a direct faith connection but it is a song written by a band where every single member is a Christian and there roots are very faith based.  Because of this it has become a 'cross over' song and has lyrics that have been pretty thought provoking in Christian circles.
It was actually written by one of the members who had struggled to support a young man at a camp program who had a very serious addiction problem.  So the song is written from the perspective of trying to help someone, to help save their life and just how hard that can be.  I thought I'd share the words and some things that came to me when I listened to it....

How To Save A Life :

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life

When I was researching this song I came across some others who were inquiring as to whether this song was about trying to bring a friend to Christ or maybe even about the Lord trying to save our lives.  The response was, of course, no as it was written for someone with an addiction but that, as with all music, it's up for interpretation.  And so I thought maybe I would spend some time on interpreting.  

When I first heard this song I actually heard it as part of the scene  after Denny dies in Grey's anatomy...as part of this video and to me that was all this was about...about trying save a life medically and it not working.  I hadn't seen the whole episode but I ached for Izzy... this was long before I knew grief so intimately.  I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to try so hard to save a life and have it fail.  

And I've often wondered if that's how God feels at times.  He tries so hard to save our lives and some people are just bent on destruction.  It comes in so many forms but the ones that jump to my mind are addiction, mental illness, self-abuse, jealousy, greed and gluttony and selfishness.  

Have you ever tried to save a life?  Have you ever had someone try to save yours?  What a frustrating process it must be and how easy it is to deek left while someone else goes right.  I hadn't really thought that I'd been on either end of this but I realize now that I have.  Saving someone from themselves, even if it comes with the motivation of saving yourself from what they inflict upon you and those you love, is a very difficult job and one that comes with it's own set of baggage, it's own consequences.  Trying to tell someone that you see them on the path of destruction is hard.  Trying to push someone from the path and into one where they can get help is even more difficult I think.  If they aren't ready to hear it, ready to see it, then they just can't be bothered with you and your 'advice'.  For me it has come at times when I could so clearly see (and hear) that rationality was gone, that judgement was off and the inflicting wounds, especially on those around them, were deep and painful.  Sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes you just have nothing left to do but walk away and wonder why you came.
But when it works...oh my is it worth it.
The thing about God is that he's everywhere...you can't outrun him, you can't hide from him.  I mean look at Jonah...he ended up in the belly of a whale and still God found him and saved him.  God won't give up and when he saves us there is a great party in Heaven.
Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:7
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

God will stay up all night, he knows how to save a life. 

And what about when it does work...like this other Grey's episode of when this song was done.  This is the one that makes the hairs stand up on my arms, makes me tear up and remember the fear, the worry, the emotions that went along with my TTTS surgery, Cam's blood transfusion, the follow up appointments, the rushed trip to Toronto when my water broke and how often in those first few days when Cameron didn't move for long periods and I was sure he was gone...and of course the moments prior to his delivery by c-section.  It is the most horrifying position to be in... to need a life saved and be able to do nothing about it, for it to be all out of your control but instead in the hands of the doctors.  And sometimes that doesn't work, it isn't possible.  But sometimes that heartbeat is found, that cry is heard, that joy is found.  And whose control is that in... the Almighty Father has his hand on everything...though so often we forget to thank him.

Isaiah 49:16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

It's not the doctors who are in control, not the doctors who are saving this life, but God.  The difficult thing comes when the 'how to save a life' isn't the way we see 'saved' happening, that the saving happens to be the ultimate healing in heaven and when the life saved isn't the one who is sick, hurt or suffering but rather the lives saved are the ones left behind.  I am one of those.  I prayed that God would safe a life, prayed that he knew how.  He answered my prayer.  He saved me! 
We can only pray that those who need to be saved will allow God into their lives, their hearts and allow him to perform whatever saving methods he needs to.