"I'll follow You anywhere"?

There is a song called Follow You Anywhere by the Christian group Passion that grips me emotionally.  The chorus says, “You are the refuge I run to.  You are the fire that leads me through the night; I’ll follow You anywhere.  There’s a million reasons to trust You, nothing to fear for You are by my side, I’ll follow You anywhere.” 

The writer of this song, Kristian Stanfill, speaks of the story behind this song at this website (https://www.newreleasetoday.com/article.php?article_id=2571).  At one point, she states, “I wrestled with the lyrics in the bridge: “Wherever you lead me/Whatever it costs me/All I want is You.”  To be completely honest, I can feel people shrink back from those lyrics.  It is a costly thing to say…I like my life and my comforts and the stuff that I have.  Am I okay with saying yes to whatever Jesus asks me to do?  The answer has to be yes.”  Perhaps that’s why I get so emotional whenever I sing this song.  It is a song of surrender.  It’s a chance to stop and think about how and where God is leading me.

For example, when I was a teenager, I read Eric and Leslie’s wonderful book When God Writes Your Love Story.  In one chapter, they tell the story of a man named Matt who married Lisa, after years of waiting for God to lead him to the right woman. Matt was 32 years old when they got married.  Tongue in cheek, the statement is made that some of the readers were surely praying, “Please don’t make me wait until I’m 32!”  I never would have envisioned when I first read that section, that I would be single at 38.  “Am I okay with saying yes to whatever God asks me to do?”  Kristian Stanfill asks.  “The answer has to be yes.”  I’m willing to wait for God’s best; God’s choice for me.  And that’s not always easy.

Or for another example, I recently celebrated my 15 year anniversary at my current job.  I cannot believe that it has been that long.  Furthermore, to be transparent, sometimes I feel like I don’t the physical or emotional strength for the job anymore.  The work was always stressful (trying to make someone happy when they are hungry is extremely challenging), but I was able to throw the stress off easier in my younger days.  Yet I’m still there, and I will be until God leads me somewhere else.

I could give other examples, but frankly at the forefront of my mind is how, 4 years ago, my life took an unexpected turn when my dad passed away at the age of 60.  “You are the refuge I run to,” Passion’s song declares.  “You are the fire that leads me through the night; I’ll follow You anywhere.  There’s a million reasons to trust You, nothing to fear for You are by my side, I’ll follow You anywhere.”  Through it all, I can say as the classic hymn puts it: “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”

Kevin 

Homesick

For 10 years, the Bauer family was blessed to sit under the Biblical teaching of Bill Oudemolen.  But not long after my dad passed away, for various reasons, my mom and I decided to begin attending another church.  It was sad, but seasons inevitably change.  In 2017, Pastor Bill wrote a blog that recently came back to my mind.  I was so impacted by his words, I wish I could cite more, but I’ll refrain.  I will, of course, have the link below, and I would encourage you to read his words that day in their entirety.  Here is some of what he wrote:

“After 24 days in Michigan it feels amazing to be home.  My own bed.  My own shower.  My own towels.  My own car.  My own drawers, closets, and easy chair… Being away from home can be refreshing and exciting.  It's fun to see different places, have different experiences, and eat in different restaurants.  Travel can be just what the doctor ordered.  But after a certain period of time, I find myself longing to get home.  I think that is one of the benefits of travel - it makes you long for home.  Home is where you feel safe, comfortable, and at ease.  You don't have to be up or get ready for anything...you just get to be home.

I've been relishing being home all day today, and then out of the blue it struck me that I'm actually not home yet.  Yep, here comes the sermonette!  The great theologian Carrie Underwood refers to this as our "Temporary Home."  There's a praise song with this lyric - "All I know is that I'm not home yet."  The old Gospel song put it this way - "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through."  For the Christian, our earthly homes are temporary dwellings.  This is not our final home.  In many ways, we’re just camping here.”

(Source: https://milehighrev.typepad.com/mile_high_rev/2017/07/home.html)

This month marks the 4 year anniversary of my dad unexpectedly entering his eternal home in Heaven.  To lose him was the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to me.  I miss him.  But there is great comfort and hope in knowing that because of his personal relationship with Jesus, Dad is home in Heaven.  The Christian group Mercy Me expresses my heart’s cry with this line: “I’ve never been more homesick than now” (full lyrics can be found at http://www.metrolyrics.com/homesick-lyrics-mercy-me.html).

Kevin