Three in the morning and I’m still awake
So I picked up a pen and a page
And I started writing just what I’d say
If we were face to face
I’d tell you just what you mean to me
Tell you these simple truths
Be strong in the Lord and
Never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got his hand on you so
Don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say
Last time we spoke you said you were hurting
And I felt your pain in my heart
I want to tell you that I keep on praying
Love will find you where you are
I know, ’cause I’ve already been there
So please hear these simple truths
Be strong in the Lord and
Never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got his hand on you so
Don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say
From one simple life to another
I will say
Come, find peace in the Father
Be strong in the Lord and
Never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got his hand on you so
Don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
Thank God for each day
His love will find a way
These are the words I would say
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Sam Mizell / David Frey / Ben McDonald
Dear God, I think this is the third time I’ve journaled about this song. That might be a record. The first time I did it was in 2012 and the second was earlier this year. But this time it’s because I have a relative who accepted the reality of you into her life yesterday at a Christmas Eve service. Ever since I heard about it, I have been thinking about what advice I would want her to have from me. What words would I say? This song is a good start, but it’s not what I would lead with. I would lead with warning her about the pitfalls I fell into–especially of weedy soil.
I think when it comes down to it, there are four different parts of the Bible I would tie together, starting with the end and then reverse-engineering to how you get to the end.
What is the end? In my mind, it is living a life from which the fruits of the Spirit flow (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control – Galatians 5:22-23).
So how do I grow the fruits of the Spirit? Well, it is by connecting my branch to your vine (John 15:5). You are the vine and I am the branch. I connect my branch to your vine so I might grow your fruit of which others can partake.
How do I connect my branch to your vine? Two ways: Loving you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:29-31), and my making sure the connection is good by weeding my soil. What do I mean by that? Well, it comes back to the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23). I can have four types of soil. At this point, it is obvious I do not have a heart that is like the path, and I do not have rocky soil. My faith does have roots. But I do often allow the weeds of the cares of this world or pursuit of wealthy to choke out your Spirit.
So to recap, but in the right order, if my relative will worship you with everything she has and love her neighbors all while weeding her soil and turning away from the idols the world offers, then she will have a branch that is firmly attached to your vice and will bear great fruit. It is much easier said than done. These are the words I would say.
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I pray over the precious woman. I pray over everyone in her sphere of influence as well. Her parents. Her siblings. Her friends. Everyone. Help her to be strong in you through the basics of loving you, loving others and weeding her soil. Raise up people around her who can be your voice and teach her. Bring her along in your joy. Oh, Lord, bless her life.
I pray all of this through the miraculous healing of Jesus,
Amen
Emails to God 