4-16-21
I started working with a new co-writer last month, and it’s been wonderful to find someone local who shares my passion for songwriting. Her name is Joy, and she’s from Memphis, so she has blues in her soul. It’s been a blast writing with her!
She had an idea for a song that instantly grabbed my attention – Drown. It was a very unique title, and I loved the idea behind it.
We started talking about how God is always calling us to go deeper and deeper in our faith, and sometimes faithfulness requires what we step out of where we’re comfortable, the shallow end of the pool, and dive into the deep end. And the key is being willing to stay there until God is done doing His work within us.
We also looked at the idea of how we have to die, or drown, to our own ideas, our own agendas, our own selves.
Verse 2 of the song we wrote says:
I’m swimming in Your ocean telling You what to do
I wrestle with the outcomes when plans don’t come through
So I’ll sink into surrender, I’ll fall into the flood
Knowing at the right time,You will lift me up
I love the visual in these lyrics because I can totally picture myself in this scenario. No. 1, the ocean is my happy place, and I love swimming and scuba diving in it. I am in awe of its incredible power and miraculous beauty.Yet I respect it very much and know that I could never try to tame it. It’s impossible.
Yet that’s exactly what I attempt to do when I try to control God, control outcomes, control other people, control circumstances. Control my future…or my present.
And instead of letting that frustrate me, faith calls me to simply sink to the bottom and surrender completely. And then be willing and brave enough to sit there until God lifts me up!
Honestly, that’s exactly what the last year has felt like for me, a continual state of surrender. Maybe you’ve felt that as well.
But the Good News is, God doesn’t leave us at the bottom forever!
But me he caught—reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!
Psalm 18:16-19 (MSG)
God doesn’t want us to drown permanently. He wants to revive us and bring us back to life – a better life, a transformed life, a life filled with His goodness, His grace, His mercy. A life drowning in His love!
But sometimes we can’t find that transformation until we drown.
When we make the decision to let ourselves “sink into surrender and fall into the flood,” we are actually making the best decision we can possibly make to grow in our faith. We are saying, in effect, “God, I am wholly and completely yours. I give total control of every detail of my life to you. Even when I feel like I’m drowning in the process, I choose to stay in the process and trust that at just the right time, You will lift me up.”
I made a quick video of the song so you can listen to it, and the words are below. I pray these words wash over your soul and give you encouragement.
And if you feel like you’re drowning right now, maybe that’s a good thing!
Hugs and love,
Jill
Drown
Words and music by Jill Miller (SESAC) and Joy Rode (ASCAP)
I’ve been treading water, not getting anywhere
About to go under, I’m fighting for air
Sometimes I like the shallow cuz’ I can see my feet
But you called me to something greater, You called me to the deep
But you called me to something greater, You called me to the deep
You say
Go to the bottom, rest in the water
Don’t come up till I say so
Freedom is waiting, a new place I’ve been savin’
Sometimes those walls won’t come down till you drown
I’m swimming in Your ocean telling You what to do
I wrestle with the outcomes when plans don’t come through
So I’ll sink into surrender, I’ll fall into the flood
Knowing at the right time, You will lift me up
Knowing at the right time, You will lift me up
You say
CHORUS
You gotta drown in His goodness
You gotta drown in His mercy
You gotta drown in amazing grace
In His faithfulness and peace