out of control – Song Dive

The next entry for my Truth be Told, which was written by Matthew West and Andrew Pruis. It was first released October 18, 2019. A link to Matthew West singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together
And when they ask how you’re doing
Just smile and tell them, “Never better”

Lie number 2 everybody’s life is perfect except yours
So keep your messes and your wounds
And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors

Truth be told
The truth is rarely told, now

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

There’s a sign on the door, says, “Come as you are” but I doubt it
‘Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded
But didn’t you say the church should look more like a hospital
A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals
Like me

Well truth be told
The truth is rarely told
Oh am I the only one who says

I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not
I’m broken
And when it’s out of control I say it’s under control but it’s not
And you know it
I don’t know why it’s so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

Can I really stand here unashamed
Knowin’ that you love for me won’t change?
Oh God if that’s really true
Then let the truth be told

There’s no failure, no fall
There’s no sin you don’t already know
So let the truth be told

This is a very thought-provoking song. It directly challenges the honesty of each of us. I think most of us are likely to get offended when someone tells us we are not being honest, but in this case; I believe the writers are telling the truth about all of us. When someone asks you how you are doing today, what is your typical answer? Maybe we say I am fine, life is wonderful, never been better, and these types of responses seem never-ending. Why are we so reluctant to be completely honest with everyone? I know there is a litany of reasons, but I think the main reason is we just really don’t want to talk about it. We believe our problems are our problems and no one else needs to know about them. We basically put on our false façade and go on with our lives.

We are also of the opinion that everyone else’s life seems to be perfect, at least the piece of their lives that we see. Our view is that they don’t need to know what we are going through. Why do we take this approach? Maybe deep inside we are envious that their lives seem so perfect and we believe our lives are a mess when compared to theirs. So, once again we put up our façade and life goes on. We many times struggle to tell the truth to our friends and our family, even though they are perhaps the people who can help us the most. As I listened to the words of this song, it was a very sobering moment for me. I understand not wanting to share every intimate detail of our lives and also believing that my issues are my own and no one else’s business, but this mentality only hurts us more. Friends are actually our family in so many ways and they are the ones who are willing to listen to us, help us when they can, and not be judgmental. If your friends can’t meet these qualities, perhaps you need to evaluate the people in your life that you call friends. These are the people who love you and are not there to judge you, but are there to lift you up whenever you fall. I can understand that opening your heart and soul to true friends is a real challenge, it requires us to let our guard down in order to share our hurts. It requires us to let things go and realize that our friends are there to help us carry our burdens and give us the love and support we need.

With all of the comfort that our friends can offer, they still come short of giving the true inner peace that only God can provide. He is really the first place we should turn. It is great to have friends we can talk to who know us and care about us, but the true inner peace we are looking for can only come from God. He is the only one who truly knows our heart and our soul and is perhaps the only one who casts no judgement upon us. He is also the only one who can give us an eternal life of joy and happiness and unconditional love. He created us, he knows us, and all he asks of us is to accept his son Jesus as our personal savior. Once we accept Jesus, we are guaranteed that one day we will live in complete peace and harmony that far exceeds anything in our dreams. He is also the one who puts friends and loved ones in our lives so that we will have people who love us and want us to be happy and free from sadness and pain. Another positive in accepting Jesus as our personal savior is that we are then indwelt with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is there to help bring us peace and help us to feel the love of God within us. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us we should not worry about anything and to put everything in God’s hands, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Maybe, one of the most disturbing thoughts in the lyrics, is the reference to “come as you are.” I believe there are some places you can go and no one cares how you look, the status of your clothes, or even perhaps your cleanliness. There are various entities that truly do reach out to many people that perhaps some churches may reject. Is it really true that churches are sometimes not the welcoming place you would expect them to be? If you attend a church today, and I hope that you do, I sincerely hope that your church has its doors open to all. Just like God accepts us as we are, we should let people come into our church who are seeking help. Maybe they are wearing ragged clothes, maybe they are unkempt, and maybe they know nothing about Jesus; are they still welcome? Jesus judges us by our hearts and not our appearance, his arms are open to everyone at all times. This is reinforced in perhaps one of the most quoted scriptures, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God let his only son die on the cross for us so that we would have a path to heaven. Once we accept Jesus as our personal savior, our past is gone and forgotten by God. So if our church is based on the gift of Jesus dying on the cross for all of our iniquities, shouldn’t our churches welcome all who wish to come in?

So, there are perhaps things we don’t want to share with our friends, and that is perfectly fine; but we still need someone we can talk to about everything going on in our lives. Jesus is there to listen to our words and our inner spirit, to wrap his arms around us, and to love us unconditionally. Truth be told, there is no one else but him who can truly listen, understand, love, and judge.

When is the last time you took the time to share your heart with Jesus and bared your soul to him? Let the truth be told.

Click to hear Matthew West sing Truth Be Told

The next entry for my Blog is Tell Your Heart to Beat Again, which was written by Bernie Herms, Matthew West, and Randy Phillips. The song was initially released January 8, 2016. A link to Danny Gokey performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

You’re shattered
Like you’ve never been before
The life you knew
In a thousand pieces on the floor
And words fall short in times like these
When this world drives you to your knees
You think you’re never gonna get back
To the you that used to be

Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of grace
Yesterday’s a closing door
You don’t live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you’ve been
And tell your heart to beat again

Beginning
Just let that word wash over you
It’s alright now
Love’s healing hands have pulled you through
So get back up, take step one
Leave the darkness, feel the sun
‘Cause your story’s far from over
And your journey’s just begun

Let every heartbreak
And every scar
Be a picture that reminds you
Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment heaven’s working
Everything for your good

Oh, so tell your heart to beat again

This is a song about the loss of a loved one and suggestions on how to somewhat recover from that loss. Note that I do not even pretend to know how each of you are impacted by a significant loss such as this, I am just sharing my views. The singer of this song actually lost his wife at an early age and this is his story. Just imagine losing the one person in your life who you loved the most and who felt the same about you. Many of you have perhaps had to live through this situation already. As this happens, the world around you just shatters and comes crashing down in small pieces. There are no words that bring comfort and no embrace that can fill your empty and broken heart. At this point in time, you probably can’t even imagine making it through today, much less tomorrow. The whole weight of the world has suddenly fallen upon your shoulders as you crumble to your knees. One of the biggest challenges for us, is how do we rise out of the deep dark pit of loss and our intense feeling of loneliness? Our emotions are out of control and our desire to live seems to be fading away. We may have many friends who love us, but even their tears and their embraces bring us little hope.

Psalm 121:1-2 can provide us hope in these times of anguish. “I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” I realize there is a period of grief we must all go through as we experience our loss, but there also comes a turning point as we start to open our eyes to life once again. The chorus of the song is delivered with such power and with a strong message of encouragement and direction. At some point, we need to realize that we must rise from our knees and take that first step into our changed future. We have to almost tell our lungs to breathe and our hearts to beat again; and we have to look to the light that only God can provide. He is there to give us strength and comfort and to take our hand as we begin our new journey. This strength may be felt through our prayers, our family, and our friends. I know that God listens to our prayers and I also believe that he brings the right people into our lives at the right time. The sooner we put God in control, the sooner we can start our new future. We will always have the past with us as a heartfelt memory, but we must go forward and not let the past dictate our future. The hardest part is taking that first step into your new future and driving your heart to beat again. In the book of Isaiah 41:13, we are told that God will help us when we are ready to move forward, “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

As we start our lives over, it is like a new beginning. We are starting over and starting to find our way out of the darkness. God has been with us every step of the journey through our darkness and loneliness, and he gives us his love as he prepares us for that first step. He is there to lead us, to guide us, and to love us. As we take our first steps into our new future; we start to leave the darkness and feel the bright sunlight shining on our face. It is a time of building a new future and beginning the next chapter in our lives. We have to learn to deal with the conversations around our loss, how we handle dinner invitations when we are now alone for the first time, how we go to events, and how we completely restructure our lives. Perhaps Matthew 6:34 gives us some of the best guidance regarding one day at a time, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” It is not only a new beginning for us, but also for those around us. It may be the first time we have paid attention to just how many people care about us and how they have been there supporting us during our deepest darkest hours.

Our heartbreak will never go away, but it doesn’t mean we can’t go on living. Our loss has taught us lessons about cherishing every moment of every day; take nothing for granted. Yes, we will have the scars of our loss forever, but we have also learned to keep walking forward no matter what life throws at us. Every moment of our past means even more and every memory is more precious than we could have ever imagined. We must look to the future and the path that God lays before us. We can have hope once again as God opens the new doors of our future and helps us close the doors of the past. We will never be alone, God tells us this in Matthew 28:20; “and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Maybe, as others hear about the scars on our heart and soul, we may be able to help them find their way and continue their story.

Click to Hear Danny Gokey Sing Tell My Heart to Beat Again