The Journeyman's Tale

  My journeyman's tale begins with a quote:

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

This quote has been with me for years. As I look over the details of my life, the places I have been, the people I have met, the challenges I have faced, and the results of overcoming those challenges, I absolutely know the abundant blessings of God's sovereignty. Even when I try to resist His power to direct me or when I question the pains I face in reaching His purpose, His will delivers me from my futile schemes.

I recently was hired to work at Downtown Church as the staff musician. Though I am an avid lover of the Lord and music, it never occurred to me that my job might allow the two to coincide in such a miraculous way. I love the work that God has prepared for me, and I am so blessed that His will prevails.

One of the other gifts God has given me the opportunity to share and explore at Downtown Church, is my love for the arts. My heart has always been drawn to finding connections between music, poetry, scripture, art, literature, and the human life. Downtown church is filled with artistic people who share this same passion. Through this blog, I seek to share how the arts intertwine into our lives and the Gospel in beautiful and mysterious ways. I'll do this by sharing songs, poems, verses, thoughts, etc… that I come across.

The first song I'll share was written by Johnny Flynn. The song follows a man down a river in search of a new beginning. Though the song is secular, when seen in different context, the river could easily be looked at as God's grace, overflowing and bringing us out of our former pain and failure, bringing us low to the point that we only have his river of grace, and then allowing us to float on it until we reach a safer shore.

The chorus of the song surrenders the will of the journeyman to the will of the river: "The water sustains me without even trying/ The water can’t drown me, I’m done/ With my dying."(Johnny Flynn,lines 6-8)

When I listen to this song it reminds me of my journey, of a need to surrender my will to God's will. I need not fear the water, for my God directs the ebb and the flow of my life, he protects me and sustains me. Nothing can harm me while he guides the ship, and as far as the dying that needs to be done, Christ took that on for me. Therefore, I am done with it.

This verse aides me as I consider turning my life over to the Lord's flowing river: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man,/ but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21 ESV)

 

You can listen to the song here:

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Here are the song lyrics:

The Water by Johnny Flynn (featuring Laura Marling)

All that I have is a river The river is always my home Lord, take me away For I just cannot stay Or I'll sink in my skin and my bones

The water sustains me without even trying The water can't drown me, I'm done With my dying

Please help me build a small boat One that'll ride on the flow Where the river runs deep And the larger fish creep I'm glad of what keeps me afloat

The water sustains me without even trying The water can’t drown me, I’m done With my dying

Now deeper the water I sail And faster the current I'm in That each night brings the stars And the song in my heart Is a tune for the Journeyman's tale

The water sustains me without even trying The water can’t drown me, I'm done With my dying

Now the land that I knew is a dream And the line on the distance grows faint So wide is my river The horizon a sliver The artist has run out of paint

The water sustains me without even trying The water can't drown me, I'm done With my dying

Where the blue of the sea meets the sky And the big yellow sun leads me home I'm everywhere now The way is a vow To the wind of each breath by and by

The water sustains me without even trying The water can't drown me, I'm done With my dying.