With Everything

I cannot help but be stuck on this song, With Everything, by Hillsong recently. It is probably one of the most personally controversial songs I have ever played, performed or sang. Think about it with me for a moment.

We sing this song that is first of all, extremely vertical. This is adjacent to sitting in a room with Jesus asking him to make us break down every part of us that seems to be getting in our way. We ask him to give us no room for slowing us down, we are asking him to take out our barriers, we are asking him to take our obstacles away so that we can sprint after him. THAT IS SCARY TO ME! It is completely terrifying. I sing this song and every time I sing it I sit there and think… with everything, all my baggage, all of my doubt, all of my bad stuff, all of my problems, all of my humanity; with all of that, I will shout forth your glory. The craziest thing is, when I sing this song, and truly sing it, not just lyric the words in a rhythmic way, but really sing it, as loud as I can and with all that I have; I NEVER think about the baggage. I never think about my doubt, the bad stuff, my problems, my humanity, all I can think about is that if God truly exists, and He is truly there listening to me sing this song that I hope he is smiling cause for a few brief moments I am completely and wholly sincere about a song. WITH EVERYTHING all I want to do is shout forth God’s praise. I cannot tell you the immense and intimate feeling I get when I can sing this song wholly to God.

Why do songs do that? They put down into words what millions at one point or another feel either simultaneously or individually. Songs like this put into words what many Christians have no doubt felt personally.

My hope and my prayer is that the next time you wake, and ponder this particular song… you mean it. The next time you hear it, it makes you think. God will take every part of you. He never asked us to become perfection and then accept his gift of his son. He asked us to let all the children come to me, to follow, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is simple. With everything, all obstacles and barriers, and all of the baggage, and all of the doubt and all of the problems, bad stuff and everything… EVERYTHING, because you do not expect me to be ANYTHING but YOURS.

So I get so freaked out by this song and I come to this one, simple truth. With everything I am simply means this, with EVERYTHING I AM. I will try to be the best me I can be, but even though I will never reach perfection, Great and Mighty to be praised is the LORD! And therefore, with everything I will shout for his glory.

Like Peter and John, who were not perfect by any means, I cannot help but talk about what I have seen and what I have heard. I cannot help it… I cannot help it.

WHOA OHHHH WHOA OHHHHH! (HANDS UP, NOTHING HOLDING ME DOWN GOD TAKE ME AND MAKE ME AND MOLD ME TO BE THE BEST ME THAT I CAN BE SO THAT IN EVERYTHING WITH EVERYTHING I CAN BE ANYTHING, SOMETHING FOR YOU KINGDOM, FOR YOUR CAUSE FOR YOUR GLORY AND YOUR HONOR AND YOUR LOVE AND YOUR POWER AND YOUR STRENGTH.)

That’s what it means when I sing it… or at least how it feels.