He Picked Me Anyway

1 Peter 2:9 — For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

I was chatting with a Southern belle friend of mine recently over coffee about how our ships are so totally sunk apart from the transformational power of God’s grace.

After a while, she sighed and mused dreamily, “The Gospel reminds me of the Cinderella story.” She went on to explain how she thought humanity was like Cinderella, and Jesus was like the divine prince.

I don’t remember how I responded verbatim; I think I just hemmed and hawed a bit and then changed the subject. But her observation rubbed the fur of my heart in the wrong direction. I kept mulling over . . . until eventually the source of my angst hit me.

Here’s the deal: if you’ve read the book or rented the movie, you know that Cinderella deserved the prince.

She was gorgeous, she was personable, she had a strong work ethic, and she was kind to animals (who in their right mind is nice to mice?). Not to mention that voice. Furthermore, she was used and abused by her soap-opera of a stepfamily.

So when the glass slipper fits and the fairytale concludes with happily ever after, we turn the page with happy satisfaction because good triumphed over evil.

But that’s not at all what happens in the Gospel.

In God’s true story, the ugly, horrible, abusive stepsister gets to marry King Jesus. I mean, come on. She’s the girl who locked her sister in a tower in order to get ahead! She’s horrible to animals! And she can’t sing a note!

Everyone at the ball is dumbfounded when he gallantly strides across the dance floor, and asks her to join him for the waltz. I can just hear the ladies muffling under their breath.

Um, looks like the royals have seriously lowered their standards.

But right there, in front of that shell-shocked crowd, the ugly stepsister becomes beautiful in the adoring, undeserved gaze of the handsome prince. His love transforms her—not a fairy godmother—from the inside out. He takes her record of selfishness and pays for it himself and clothes her in honor and splendor.

That’s the divine love story we’ve been written into. We were once the ugly stepsister, you and me. That’s who we were. But now we’re royalty. That’s who we are now. All made possible by the One, true, perfect and powerful King who picked the worst of us out of a crowd and made us His very own.

— Lisa Harper

/by

This is My Jesus

, ,

Psalms 56:8 — “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

It was the kind of pain that makes everything else stop. My brother Jacob had died in a car accident. He was only 23.

I did not know how to process it, but I could write. That was how it started, just me and a journal. At the end of each entry, I would write that God had gotten me through one more day of tragedy.

Years passed, and I began writing songs. One day, I pulled out those old journals and flipped through page after page. That is when it hit me: I had never once in my writing used the phrase “God” or “Lord.” Every single time, I had written, “My Jesus.”

I asked God why. Why that name? Why always that phrase?

And what I sensed—clear as anything—was Him saying, “Because I am yours, and you are mine.”

I remember the sweetness of that moment. The kindness in it.

A few days later, I had a writing session planned. I brought that phrase with me, and it became the starting point for a song called “My Jesus.”

He was the whole reason I had survived those painful years. God had not been distant in my grief. He had been beside me, holding me up every step of the way.

I do not know what you have walked through. Maybe you have buried someone. Maybe you are still trying to breathe through the fog of grief. I want you to know this: Jesus can be personal for you too because he’s not just a name in a book or a distant deity.

He can be your Jesus.

And if all you can manage today is to whisper that one phrase, let me tell you, that is enough.

— Anne Wilson

 

LYRICS:

Are you past the point of weary
Is your burden weighing heavy
Is it all too much to carry
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus
Do you feel that empty feeling
‘Cause shame’s done all its stealing
And you’re desperate for some healing
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus

He makes a way where there ain’t no way
Rises up from an empty grave
Ain’t no sinner that He can’t save
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus
His love is strong and His grace is free
And the good news is I know that He
Can do for you what He’s done for me
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus
And let my Jesus change your life
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, amen, amen

Who can wipe away the tears
From broken dreams and wasted years
And tell the past to disappear
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus
And all the wrong turns that you would
Go and undo if you could
Who can work it all for your good
Let me tell you about my Jesus

Who would take my cross to Calvary
Pay the price for all my guilty
Who would care that much about me
Let me tell you ‘bout my Jesus

/by

What Do You Know, Joe

, ,

Psalms 34:18 — The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Joe came from a well-off family. They weren’t uber-rich, mind you. But they were comfortable. He grew up going to decent schools. He wore high-end clothes. He may or may not have worn monogrammed underwear.

When he turned 18, he was going to join the military like his dad, the officer, wanted. But there is a well known saying in the military, “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken excrement.” We are who we are.

Joe just wasn’t the military type. He was creative, he wrote poetry, for crying out loud. So he went to college instead.

Turns out, the poet was a great student. And he realized something important during college: He liked teaching.

So he got a job as a private tutor. It was a fun gig. He taught the children of a good family, and life was shaping up nicely.

Things got even better when he met a girl. She was lovely. Charming. They became obsessed with each other, constantly annoying all those around them with PDA.

It wasn’t long before they were engaged. Joe was probably happier than he’d ever been. They started planning the wedding.

Only days before the big event, there was an accident. It all happened so fast. His bride-to-be drowned. The accident happened right in front of Joe. His was the last face she saw.

Joe was catatonic. He had PTSD. Night terrors. He couldn’t stop seeing her face. His friends and family didn’t know whether he would ever get over her.

The worst part of it all, he often said, was the loneliness. Loneliness is the worst sensation in the human experience.

He finally left home for a fresh start. He took a job in a rural town with a tiny population. A town so small they the city-limits signs were nailed to the same post.

He lived in the sticks. He joined a church. Mostly, Joe kept to himself. He was a quiet guy. He spent a lot of time alone in nature.

Also, they say he helped people. He was a handy guy, so he was always at someone’s house fixing something. He was usually helping the disabled folks in town, and the shut-ins.

He earned a reputation for being a hard worker. Locals tried to hire him, but he had a personal rule he followed. Joe would only work for those who couldn’t afford to pay. He accepted no money.

You know. Just a really good guy.

Then he met Catherine. They had an instant connection. It was one of those relationships that just worked. They started hanging out a lot. He loved her so deeply it hurt. And just like that, the loneliness was gone.

They got engaged. It was the happy ending of a very long grief process. A ray of sunlight. But shortly before their wedding, Catherine developed pneumonia. He was at her bedside when she died.

After that, Joe was a wreck. They say he threw himself into the work of helping others, if for no other reason, than to combat loneliness.

He wrote poetry, too. Lots of it. Late one night, while writing a letter, he wrote one such poem.

The page was dotted with drops of saltwater, smearing the ink in little puddles. The beginning verse of that poem went:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and grief to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

And anyway, now you know the rest of the story.

— Sean Dietrich

 

 

Lyrics:

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.

-Joseph M. Scriven, 1855
(Tune by Charles C. Converse, 1868)

/by

Jesus Calls Us Back to Life

, ,

John 11:25 — “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

Have you ever thought about the fact that the primary way that God chose to reveal Himself to us is through story? I think God chose to do this because He knows us best.

One of my favorite stories comes from the dramatic scene in John where Jesus finds Himself at the tomb of His best friend, Lazarus. By the time Jesus got there, Lazarus had been dead for four days.

In Jewish tradition, the soul would hover over the body for three days, but on the fourth, there would be no more hope for any reversal of the loss. This little cultural detail sets up the story to show Jesus faced with an impossible situation.

Surrounded by weeping family and friends, Jesus calls out…'”Lazarus, come out! Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

This is our story! Apart from Jesus, you and I are without hope, without life, and without promise. No matter how far gone we think we are, we can all still hear the powerful and authoritative voice of Jesus calling out to us.

“(insert your name here), come out! Take off the grave clothes and be free!”

Because, just like Lazarus, He has called us back to life!

— Phil Wickham

 

LYRICS

How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, Yours is the victory, whoa!

Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Jesus Christ, my living hope
Oh God, You are my living hope

Songwriters: Brian Johnson / Phil Wickham

/by

How Do You Go from Liked to Loved?

,

Ephesians 2:4-5 — “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

When my husband Christian and I first became boyfriend and girlfriend, I took on another role: FBI Investigator Sadie Rob.

I’d seen his Instagram so many times. But when I became Investigator Sadie, I started noticing stuff that I’d never really cared about before, including the girl he went to a party with.

All of a sudden, I noticed her in a different way. I spiraled as I thought about how much fun they must have had and how beautiful she was, with her blonde hair and blue eyes.

After my investigation I walked away concluding I was no longer good enough for the relationship. I figured I should do everybody a favor and exit. I’d save Christian the hassle.

Years earlier I’d been dating a guy, and somebody said my looks were not up to par compared to another girl he had previously dated. That really stuck with me.

It got in the way of me getting close to people. It wasn’t that others weren’t willing to love me; it was that I didn’t feel very lovable. It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to date me; it was that I didn’t feel good enough.

That little lie had been planted in my heart for years, and I almost let that affect my relationship with the person I would later marry. He was standing there pursuing me with love and respect.

I went to Christian and started telling him how I was feeling. He shared with me something very powerful that day. He said, “Yeah, those girls were attractive. However, I am captivated by you.”

At first it felt pretty odd to hear those words coming out of my boyfriend’s mouth, but then he said, “You can notice something is attractive, because the fact is, it’s attractive. But to be captivated means that you hold all my attention.”

That day I stopped investigating and rested in the security that he was captivated by me.

So many times we do this with God. He is loving us, pursuing us, and asking us to be in a relationship with Him. He has written a couple-thousand-page love letter to us, but we have to allow ourselves to be loved and captivated by Him.

We must begin to take God at His word. When we refuse to allow ourselves to feel loved, we stop a relationship from being able to grow. Be captivated by your Creator, and don’t lose sight of His gaze.

— Sadie Robertson Huff

/by

From Forgiveness to Family

, ,

Matthew 6:12 – “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Over the past few years, I’ve been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real life stories that people send to me.

This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me. It hit me kind of hard. It’s about a woman who did the impossible, and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.

Renee had four kids. Two of her daughters were twins. Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend when their car was struck by a drunk driver named Eric, a 24-year-old kid.

Megan lost her life. Eric killed both girls that were in the car. Renee lost her daughter in an instant. Next thing she knows, she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24-year-old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Renee wrote to me and said, “I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.”

What she meant by that is that in the years that followed, she began to travel around to schools and churches and different functions, and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.

But as the years progressed, she felt like something was missing from her presentation, and that’s when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter. And so she reached out and did the impossible.

She reached out to Eric in prison and said, “I forgive you.”

The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are still being felt today. That young man’s life was absolutely changed because this woman forgave him.

He said, “I can’t even forgive myself, and she forgave me.” Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.

One by one, all of Rene’s family members followed her lead, and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric. So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son to Renee.

The story doesn’t stop there though. Renee went to the courts along with her family, and she was able to have Eric’s sentence cut in half from 22 years to 11 years.

This blew me away.

The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life, and so that he could join her in their presentations. She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of forgiveness.

— Matthew West

 

LYRICS

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just to real
It takes everything you have just to say the word…

Forgiveness
Forgiveness

It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you gotta right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying “Set It Free”

Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what it’s power can do
So, let it go and be amazed
By what you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

I want to finally set it free
So show me how to see what Your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me

Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness

Songwriters: Matthew West

/by

Say Goodbye to Yesterday

, ,

2 Corinthians 5:17 — “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

There was always one.

One student always showed up to youth group and sat in the back. Hoodie up. Eyes down. Never sang. Never responded.

And I could not stop thinking about him.

We did not start Elevation Rhythm for big stages. We started in rooms like that—small, loud, and imperfect— with students like that who were not yet sure what they believed about God but still came.

We began by remixing worship songs, just trying to help them connect. Eventually, we started writing our own. Not to sound cool. Not to go viral. But because we knew not every kid listens to the same thing, and if God speaks every language, then maybe He could speak through every genre, too.

Our hope was that in all the noise of the world, they would hear one song that felt personal like God was saying, “This one is for you.”

During one of those writing days, it was just me, Gracie Binion, and Mitch Wong. We were talking through what God had done in our lives and how hard it can be to stop believing the lies about who we used to be.

Then Gracie said, almost in passing, “I think I finally said goodbye to who I used to be.”

And that was it. We knew our students needed to hear that.

That was the beginning of our song “Goodbye Yesterday.”

We already had the name of the album, Victory Lap, but the meaning sank in deeper that day.

A victory lap is what you take after the race is finished—Not to win but to celebrate what has already been won. That is what life in Jesus is. Freedom. Not striving.

And maybe today, you are the one sitting in the back, not literally but in your heart. You are still unsure if God sees you and still dragging around the shame of a life He already paid for.

If that is you, hear this: you do not have to be weighed down by a version of yourself Jesus already set free.

The cross is before you. The past does not have to define you because He has already won. So, say the words even in a whisper.

“Goodbye, yesterday.”

And the rest of your life? It is your Victory Lap.

— Josh Holiday

 

Lyrics:

Goodbye yesterday
I’m living in the light of a new day
I won’t waste another minute in my old ways
Praise the Lord I’ve been born again

Goodbye yesterday
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
I’ve got resurrection in my veins
Praise the Lord, I’ve been born again

Again and again and again and again
You rescued me out of the mess I was in
Traded my sorrow for something to sing
I’m dancing on the grave that I once lived in

I have decided
To follow Jesus
The world behind
The cross before
I won’t turn back

Written by Joshua Holiday, Gracie Binion, Mitch Wong, Steven Furtick

GOODBYE YESTERDAY – LEARN MORE HERE

/by

Life After Letting Go

, ,

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”

If you had asked me a few years ago what surrender looked like, I probably would have given you a lyric or a sermon point. I might have even sung about it on stage. But life has a way of taking your songs and asking if you actually believe them.

We were in the middle of another packed tour—city after city, set list after set list. People were singing along. Ministry was happening. On the outside, everything looked like it was working. But on the inside, I was struggling to catch my breath.

I was missing dinners. Bedtime stories. The small in-between moments at home that no one claps for, but that matter more than anything. One night, sitting alone in a venue parking lot, I remember thinking—not in a dramatic way, but in a soul-deep way—What am I even doing?

I had given so much of myself to ministry, but somewhere along the way, I stopped asking if it was still what God wanted—or if I had just forgotten how to stop.

That night marked the beginning of surrender.

I sat with the guys in the band and said, “I think we need to step back from touring.”

It hurt to say. But it opened the door to healing. We took time off. We made space for our families. And in that space, the lyrics to our song “Control” came to me:

“Oh how You love me
Somehow that frees me
To open my hands up
And give You control
I give You control”

When we released it, we started receiving letters—people telling us about the things they were finally letting go of. Control of their children’s futures. Control of broken marriages. Control of their image. The #ControlCampaign became more than a hashtag. It became a shared sigh of relief.

And that is what I never saw coming: the rest. The clarity. The peace that comes when you stop reaching for everything and hand back to God what was His in the first place.

So if your heart feels overwhelmed and stretched thin, maybe the way forward is not to try harder. Maybe it is to trust deeper. Surrender is not failure. It is where freedom starts.

— Mike Donehey

 

Control (Somehow You Want Me)

Here I am, all my intentions
All my obsessions, I wanna lay them all down
In Your hands
Only Your love is vital
Though I’m not entitled
Still You call me Your child

God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control
I give You control

I’ve had plans shattered and broken
Things I have hoped in, fall through my hands
You have plans to redeem and restore me
You’re behind and before me
Oh, help me believe

God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control

You want me, somehow You want me
The King of Heaven wants me
So this world has lost its grip on me(Repeat)

God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control
I give You control
You want me, somehow You want me
The King of Heaven wants me
So this world has lost its grip on me

(Written by: Mike Donehey, Jason Ingram, Matt Bronleewe)

/by

He’s a Good Father

, ,

Psalms 103:13 — As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.

Pat Barrett had sung about God his whole life. But when his daughter was born, something in him shifted. As Harper Gray lay asleep, soft and small in his arms, Pat paused mid-prayer.

How am I going to explain God to her?

He had heard it all. God as judge. God as distant. God as angry. He had led worship at dozens of conferences where the message shifted depending on the speaker or the crowd. One week, God was gentle. The next, furious. Disappointed. Hard to please.

But now he was a father. When you’re raising a child, you do not have the luxury of vague beliefs anymore. You need to know who God is not just for your sake, but for theirs too.

In that season of wrestling, Pat sat with his guitar, heart heavy, and out came a lyric more like a sigh than a song.

“I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think You’re like…”

Meanwhile, his friend Tony Brown had been leading worship in their Atlanta house church, singing a chorus that had been sitting with him for years:

“You’re a good, good Father…”

For Tony, who had grown up without a dad, those words carried deep personal meaning. God was not just a comfort. He was the only Father Tony had ever known.

The two met up, shared what they were wrestling with, and together they finished the song “Good Good Father” with no spotlight in mind.

The song caught on fast—first in their home church, then beyond. Word spread, and one day Chris Tomlin heard it. He called, asked to record it, and the song took on a life of its own. Churches around the world began singing the same simple truth.

But for Pat, the most important moment was still at home. It was hearing Harper Gray sing along. Because that is what he had wanted all along. He wanted his child to grow up with the right story. God is a good father.

Maybe that is what you need, too. Maybe the stories you were told about Him left you unsure, guarded, or aching. But the truth is still true.

God i s not just a good Father in theory. He is a good Father in practice. He is present, attentive, and steady, and He wants to be that to you and for you.

Would you let Him?

 

LYRICS

VERSE 1
I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think You’re like
But I’ve heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night
You tell me that You’re pleased and that I’m never alone

CHORUS
You’re a good, good father
It’s who You are, it’s who You are, it’s who You are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am

VERSE 2
I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching for answers only you provide
‘Cause You know just what we need before we say a word

BRIDGE
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us

VERSE 3
Love so undeniable I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
Into love love love

Written By Pat Barrett and Tony Brown

/by

Guided by God’s Word

, ,

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 — “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I had already made the list in my head: I was not smart enough, not qualified enough, not the kind of person who should even consider Bible school.

Study music ministry? I could not read sheet music, much less memorize long passages or pass a theology class. Still, the thought would not leave me alone. Every time I prayed, I felt that tug—a strong, steady pull I could not ignore.

So, I started asking around. That was a mistake. Everyone I talked to told me no in one way or another. And I get it. They knew my story. I had spent most of my school years just trying to hide a learning disability, praying no one would call on me to read aloud.

Eventually, I made a deal with God.

“If You take away my learning disability,” I told Him, “I will go.”

I had been reading that part in the Bible where Paul begs God to take something painful away, and I thought, “That’s it. That’s how I will know. If God fixes me—that will be my answer.”

But He did not fix it.

What He did instead was slower, harder—and far more beautiful. He kept leading me back to that same passage, and each time I read it, I started seeing it differently.

God was not waiting to heal me so I could go. He was waiting for me to trust Him enough to go anyway.

So, I went.

The struggle did not disappear. Learning remained slow. Some days, reading Scripture felt like running uphill in the dark, but I kept showing up.

Now, years later, I can say with full confidence: His Word is my compass. It is what I use to make decisions when I am scared or uncertain or hurting. It corrects my thoughts when my feelings run wild. It reminds me that I am not the one holding everything together. He is.

These days, people carry a lot of convictions. We talk with passion. We post with intensity. But unless our convictions come from Scripture, they will not hold. They will only confuse us more.

Truth lives in the Word. And through it, God will do things you cannot explain—not always by removing your weakness, but by walking with you through it.

So, just know this: you do not need to be the best or the brightest to follow where God leads. You just need to know where to look for direction.

And His Word will never lead you off course.

— Mark Hall

Lyrics

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
(Never win)
“You’ll never win!”
(Never win)

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

The stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don’t seem so high
On top of them lookin’ down
And I soar with the wings of eagles
If I’d stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

And the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will stand and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe
The Voice of Truth

Writers: Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman

/by