He Never Lets Go

This weekend presented a fantastic service at Crossroads Church in Woodbury, MN. It was the opening part of a four part series called Wink. Congregations were huge for all three services and I highly recommend anyone who reads this that can come next week, should. You will be blessed.

I was fortunate enough to man the video camera for all three services. It was a great time and, personally, I think all portions of the service were very good, from the music, to the message, to the tech team. We weren’t perfect by any means, but who is?

You’d think that after three services plus rehearsal that by noon on Sunday the emotional effect on me would be minimal. Well, that was not the case, specifically with one song that our band played, Never Let Go by Matt Redman.

Through both good and bad times, Mr. Redman praises God’s willingness to hang on to us no matter what comes at us, and if we hold on to Him, there is a light at the end of our struggles that will remove all of these troubles. A very inspirational song and our band plays it very well.
The funny part for me is that until today, I had never really looked at all of the words to the song and it had a totally different meaning to me, which prompted a very emotional response.

My walk with Jesus has been loaded with ups and downs, as most people’s are. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior in 1996 and had a fire burning for Him. Church outings, working with our youth group, singing in the choir – I was involved. Over time, however, and for a number of reasons, my fire dwindled down. My beliefs were still intact, but my actions did not reflect them and did not do God justice.

It wasn’t until this year, when we started attending Crossroads, that my heart was ready for the Spirit to begin moving me again and inspiring me to serve. One of the biggest impacts on this renewed commitment was the feeling I received from the music played at our church, in particularly with Matt Redman’s song.

The title of Never Let Go made me thankful to God that even though I had lost my passion for Him, He never let go of His passion for me. No matter where I was in life, He was ready for me to come back. That is just an amazing feeling and one that makes me cry for joy every time I hear the song, even after a rehearsal and three services.

Even though I had misinterpreted the lyrics, I believe that what I heard was exactly what God wanted me to hear from this song. Even more importantly, I believe it was exactly what I NEEDED to hear. My Spirit needed to be moved and I needed to connect with God again and this was one of the components that I needed for that to happen.

God speaks to each of us in different ways and through different mediums. When we read the Bible, different portions of the same stories reach each of us in different ways. Why wouldn’t poems, books, songs, or any other medium be any different?

I’m sure some people who read this will think it’s a bunch of crap and I’m just trying to justify my incorrect interpretation of this song. That might be true, but I’m quite comfortable knowing that even if I got the song wrong, God has been and will be willing to hang on and never let go of me.