If I Stand

Rich Mullins is one of my favorite song writers and wordsmiths. He wrote the song “If I Stand”. The lyrics are amazing to me. You can hear him sing it on U-tube. Here is a section of the lyrics.

If I stand let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through
And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy that has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man who is longing for his home.

There’s more that dances on the prairies than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean than the tide
There’s a love that is fiercer than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother when her baby is at her side.

And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver of all good things.

Those words speak deeply to my soul. There’s a love fiercer than deep friendship and gentler than a mother with her baby at the same time. God’s love for us is beyond understanding.

Ephesians 3:17-19, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”

There is a loyalty deeper than mere sentiment. God’s loyalty is unquestionable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

Even as an accomplished song writer, Rich Mullins writes, “A music higher than the songs that I can sing”, recognizing the songs we will sing in heaven will dwarf anything written by man.

However, the line that touches me deepest is, “The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things.” Why do we fill our lives with the “stuff of earth”? God gives us everything we have. We are called to be stewards of what He has put under our responsibility. Our time, treasure, and talents are all given to us to honor Him.

Dear Lord, I pray you help us not let the things of this world become more important than the good works You have prepared for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”