Saturday At Nine

Saturday at Nine

He sat there with the engine running
Three spaces from the door
Coffee cooling in the cup holder
Like the week he'd had before

His wife had barely spoke on Friday
The bills were stacked up high
And somewhere between work and home
He'd stopped looking toward the sky

His buddy said, "Just come this Saturday
You don't have to say a word"
So at eight fifty-seven
He finally showed up to church

He almost put that truck in reverse
Then somebody waved him inside

It ain't about how strong you look
Or how much Scripture you can quote
It's learning you weren't meant to carry
Every burden on your own

Just a room full of imperfect men
Trying to walk that narrow line
Sometimes God starts changing lives
On Saturday at nine

There was coffee in a paper cup
And folding chairs in rows
A Bible with a busted spine
And men in workday clothes

One had almost lost his marriage
One had laid his daddy down
One said he'd been mad at Jesus
But kept coming back around

Then an older man sat next to him
Didn't preach and didn't pry
Just looked him straight between the eyes
And said, "Brother, how are you really doing tonight?"

He laughed and said, "It's morning"
The old man smiled, "You know what I mean"

It ain't about how strong you look
Or how much Scripture you can quote
It's learning you weren't meant to carry
Every burden on your own

Just a room full of imperfect men
Trying to walk that narrow line
Sometimes God starts changing lives
On Saturday at nine

The first few weeks he mostly listened
Then one day he finally spoke
Told them all about the anger
And the things he'd nearly broke

No one flinched and no one judged him
No one headed for the door
They put their hands upon his shoulders
And they prayed there on that floor

Week by week the walls came down
His wife could see the change
He started praying with his family
And calling brothers by their names

They call themselves the Men of Valor
Funny thing about that name
He thought valor meant you never fell
They taught him getting up takes faith

It ain't muscles
It ain't pride
It ain't pretending you're alright

It's standing when your brother falls
And walking with him through the fight

A year went by, another Saturday
He pulled in just before nine
Saw a stranger in a pickup truck
Staring straight ahead inside

He knew that look because he'd worn it
He knew exactly what it meant
That battle between leaving
And taking one more step

So he walked across the parking lot
Tapped twice upon the glass
The stranger rolled the window down
And he smiled and said at last

"Come on, brother
You're right on time"

It ain't about how strong you look
Or how much Scripture you can quote
It's learning you weren't meant to carry
Every burden on your own

We're just a room full of imperfect men
Learning how to hold the line
And sometimes God starts changing lives
On Saturday at nine

Yeah, sometimes God starts changing lives
When a brother says, "You're doing fine"

Then stays long enough to hear the truth
On Saturday at nine

Eight fifty-seven
Truck still running outside

Three minutes later
He walked into a different life