Hope Like a Stranger (Live from Judson U)

HOPE LIKE A STRANGER

W/M: Bob Bennett

Hope, like a stranger, came to my door

I was afraid, I was rude

"What are you coming here for?

Have you come to stay

Or are you just passing through?

I've seen your face

But I do not know you"

And he said, "You know me,

But I've had to remain

Hidden in the shadows

Of your sorrow and pain

For you have lived your life

As a slave, so it seems

Believing your nightmares

Instead of your dreams"

Hope, like a stranger

Posed a question like a dare

"Can you mask the mysteries of your heart

Pretending not to care?

For the thing that you dismissed

With your cynical facade

Was the hope you'd been given

From the very heart of God

And it drove you in secret

But you held it close at bay

And you tried to disown me

But you're not made to be that way

And so I stand here, longing

For no matter where you run

I will wait like the father

Of the Prodigal Son"

He said, "Hope by itself,

It can never be an end

It's like holding paper money

That's impossible to spend

Unless the value is a given

The bargain's incomplete"

Then he showed me the scars

On his hands and his feet

I touched his wounds

As I steadied my nerve

He said, "I only bear the marks

Of the Master I serve

And He sends me here to tell you

I am bound up with Him

And you'd do well, when He comes

To also let Him in"

Hope, like a stranger, came to my door

But he's risen and he stays

A stranger no more