"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