The next entry for my Blog is The God Who Stays which was written by Matthew West and AJ Pruis. It was first released in 2019. A link to Matthew West singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.
The God Who Stays
If I were you, I would’ve given up on me by now
I would’ve labeled me a lost cause
Cause I feel just like a lost cause
If I were you, I would’ve turned around and walked away
I would’ve labeled me beyond repair
Cause I feel like I’m beyond repair
But somehow you don’t see me like I do
Somehow, you’re still here
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And you tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays
I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I’m learning You don’t work that way
Somehow you don’t see me like I do
Somehow, you’re still here
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays
My shame can’t separate
My guilt can’t separate
My past can’t separate
I’m Yours forever
My sin can’t separate
My scars can’t separate
My failures can’t separate
I’m Yours forever
No enemy can separate
No power of hell can take away
Your love for me will never change
I’m Yours forever
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays
Do you know anyone who appears to be just a complete failure? This might be a person you know, a family member, someone you know about, or perhaps a perception you have formed based on what you have seen of someone’s behavior and actions. Sometimes it is easy to walk away and ignore the person and sometimes it is heartbreaking to see that person self-destruct right before your eyes. They seem to make one mistake after another and commit failure after failure until they have completely given up on their lives and are destined to live a life or regret instead of hope.
As you witness this ongoing self-destruction of the person feeling shunned by the world, what do you do? Do you ignore the fact that a life is being destroyed, do you go about your daily life and try to forget this individual, or do you do whatever is in your power to try and help put that person on the right path again? What if that person was once a close friend or a family member? As I look at these various scenarios, I am of the opinion that many of us are willing to turn our backs and walk away. I do understand there are some situations we believe we are not capable of handling, but what about those that we can help, with possibly additional assistance from others. Let’s take this a little closer to home, what if you are the one that has given up? Are you alone because everyone else has given up on you and believe you are just a major screw-up who will never turn around? Maybe you have become the lost cause the song talks about. The really sad part is that you have labeled yourself as a complete failure and that only contributes to others forming the same opinion of you. A lot of times, we project the way we feel about ourselves and this causes others to view us that way as well. We reach a point where we don’t blame people for not wanting to help us or even be around us.
Wow, this entry sounds really depressing so far doesn’t it? Now for the good news, God is not like us and will never be like us. When we finally try to hold our head up and open up our heart a bit, we find out that God sees deep into our heart and soul and he knows that the person we could be and want to be is still in there. Others see the outward appearance, actions, and words; God only sees us from our true inside. As others flee from us and who we have become, God is always running along with us loving us. As we finally allow ourselves to feel his presence, we sense his arms wide open as he reminds us that he has been there with us all the time and always will be. He runs to us instead of away from us, he runs with us as we try to flee others, he is the one who stays. Our God doesn’t look at our sin or what we have become, he only knows our heart and that we are his children. All he asks of us is that we accept his son as our personal Savior and every sin goes away forever. As a result, God never sees the sin in our lives, he only sees his child and what we can become.
You may be a Christian already, but even with the knowledge that you have of the powers of our God; aren’t their times when you want to hide because of some mistake you have made? Maybe something you lied about, maybe infidelity, maybe you lost a job because you didn’t do your best to succeed; you can probably think of a few things you have done in your life that you are ashamed of and just want to hide from God. Even David tried to hide from God. I encourage you to read Psalm 139 in full, but here are verses 1-6 showing that hiding is impossible: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
Peter lied about being a follower of Christ as shown in Matthew 26:69-75: “Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man! After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly”. Both of them ended up in agony and even tears. When they finally faced God again, it was as if their sins never happened. God didn’t say, you owe me for what you have done. He doesn’t go about reminding us of our sins. When we finally hold our heads up again, his arms are open wide and there is look of love upon his face. God reminds that no matter what we do, we can’t get him away from us. Instead of him walking into our darkness, he pulls us into his light.
God will always run to us, no matter how far we run, and he will always find us, no matter where we hide. He doesn’t see our shame and he overcomes every enemy and obstacle in our lives. Even the power of Satan and the evils of the world cannot overcome us when we have God on our side. The even better news than all of the above is that we are his for eternity.
Our God truly stays with us every minute of every day. As you struggle with the events of life, look up to his extended arms and feel his never-ending all-encompassing love.