It’s 2:24 a.m., and I’m sitting in a rental car with bright red and white lights flashing in my rearview mirror. “This can’t be happening to me!” I mumble to myself.
I’m lost—somewhere between Minneapolis and Willmar, Minn. In less than eight hours I’m supposed to interview Sanctus Real at Sonshine Festival, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s really going to happen. To put it bluntly, I’ve had a really bad day: missed flights, pushy people, crazy weather . . . the list goes on and on. And now bad just got worse! (The speed limit shifted from 65 mph to 35 mph, and I didn’t slow down fast enough.)
A state trooper hands me a tiny slip of paper with two dreaded words printed on it: Speeding Violation. It’s tough to accept, yet the message is clear: “Life is full of hard knocks.”
As I pull back onto the highway, I remind myself of my whole reason for being here. Sanctus Real recorded a song called “I’m Not Alright”—which is, without a doubt one of the year’s most honest tunes: “I’m not alright / I’m broken inside / And all I go through / It leads me to You.”
The band challenges us to avoid getting stuck in the bad days. Instead, we must trust the One who forgives and restores—even when life doesn’t make sense. And as their album title suggests, we must look for The Face of Love.
Suddenly, my writing assignment for Breakaway is turning into a lesson in transparency.
Later That Morning . . .
It’s 10:30 a.m., and after an exhausting 19-hour travel marathon, I finally arrive at my destination: Sonshine Festival. I make my way through a sea of 25,000 concertgoers and eventually find the stage where Sanctus Real will perform—but where’s the band?
“The guys are on their way,” I’m told. “They’ve encountered a few, uh, setbacks along the way.” Setbacks? I can relate!
Sixty-minutes later, Sanctus Real pulls up in a van that looks as if it’s the victim of a Midwest bug storm. (Actually, it is!) And I can’t help noticing a dent on the passenger side. A weary Matt Hammitt (lead singer) climbs out, looks up and grins.
“We’ve had a really rough time getting here,” he tells me as he shakes my hand. “It feels as if everything has gone wrong: Missed flights, pushy people, crazy weather . . . an accident in a parking garage—”
As Matt and I compare war stories from the past few days (even years), I’m amazed that a smile never leaves his face.
“It’s all good,” Matt concludes. “Life is tough, but God is tougher. I know that’s a cliché, but all the stuff we go through sparks an excitement for life and the journey we’re on.
“Through it all, we don’t know what our Savior looks like,” he adds, “but we know who He is. And He’s showing us the men He wants us to be. He’s showing us how to reveal the face of love to those around us.”
It’s little wonder that The Face of Love contains hard-hitting songs that explore themes of love, brokenness and the distance we sometimes feel between God and us. Every tune is inspired by real-life heartache and rediscovered joy.
I click on my tape recorder as the band takes me song by song through some of their own authentic journeys that they’ve captured on this album.
“BENJAMIN”
Rain falls outside
I think the sky must know what’s happening tonight
Children born while fathers die
It’s that circle of life that we all live in time
Mark Graalman: Just as our Fight the Tide tour was drawing to a close, my son Benjamin was born at a Toledo hospital. But shockingly, two hours later—and one floor below the joyous celebration—my father was diagnosed with cancer. Tests concluded that there was nothing doctors could do.
I remember thinking, God, why are you allowing this to happen? I don’t understand.
The news overwhelmed my family and our band. My dad eventually died, which was one of the hardest experiences I’ve had to endure.
The song “Benjamin” is all about the circle of life. It shares the pain of losing a loved one and the joy of welcoming a new life into this world. We’re here for a short time. God gives and takes life, and if we’re here to love, we ought to get busy about it—and not take this gift for granted.
“I’M NOT ALRIGHT”
If weakness is a wound
That no one wants to speak of
Then “cool” is just how far we have to fall
I am not immune
I only want to be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall
Matt Hammitt: A lot of people gravitate to this song, and for good reason. Sometimes stuff that happens in life isn’t OK. Sometimes good, happy people are broken. Yet it’s hard for Christians to admit this, isn’t it?
Here’s the reality: We don’t have to sugarcoat life. Pain is a part of living. Believers don’t have to perform or pretend that everything is always OK. Sometimes we hurt, so let’s stop faking it.
As Christians, we have eternal hope. We know our destiny. But we shouldn’t be afraid of saying, “I’m having a really bad day.” Face your pain, don’t run from it. Be real with your emotions—and lean back into the hope you have in Christ. Let’s embrace His strength during our weakness.
“THE FACE OF LOVE”
I’ve seen Your face on stained glass, in colored lights
In pictures of You looking to the sky
You’ve been portrayed a thousand different ways
But my heart can see you better than my eyes
‘Cause it’s love that paints the portrait of Your life
Chris Rohman: This song is inspired by Brennan Manning’s The Signature of Jesus. Change throughout life is hard, even gut-wrenching. Yet it can finally usher empowering expectations. Death does not get the final word. Love does, and it happens every day: through the birth of a child, in deciding to press on searching for another chance—even in making music with your best friends.
This is the hope to start again, and in them are images of love. 
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