Jules Riding

Saturday night at the Tirau Co-operating Church we had a live concert of Jules Riding. I had promoted it and although we sent out flyers throughout the town and put up posters we really only had parishioners there.

He sang songs from his new CD "Cataclysm" and shared his testimony of the four years he sunk into depression and even thought he would never sing or write again.

 His story is moving but in the end triumphant as he discovered three amazingly encouraging counsellors who help him through this time when he felt he had lost all he loved including his marriage.

But his faith in God held him and carried him through the wilderness as he dealt with hurts from his past and self-doubt. And just like we read in the Bible of Job, God has blessed him even more abundantly, restoring his marriage, his singing and song writing career and even, I believe, his faith in himself.

We were encouraged to read the psalms and hear the cry of the psalmist when he felt all was lost.

Many of his songs have been taken from the Psalms so they are profound truth.

I was especially touched by his song "Wounded Spirit" and "In your Presence". Jules had sent a copy of his CD to help promote the concert and I often listened to it at work so had started to sing the songs too but to see them performed live and knowing the stories behind them really worked in my heart.

Having suffered from a breakdown in my past and living with a man with depression is hard, but to know my journey is not one that no-one else has travelled gives comfort. And so I also share that comfort with others.

Jules Riding and Me (Tirau)

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

The God of All Comfort

 ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
 

All scripture is from New International Version 1984