Where You go, I’ll go
Where You stay, I’ll stay
When You move, I’ll move
I will follow You
Who You love, I’ll love
How You serve, I’ll serve
If this life I lose,
I will follow You
Chris Tomlin has a song titled “I Will Follow” on his newest album. I liked it right away because it reminds me to take my view of life and change it to fit the Lord’s perspective, following Him. Sometimes we expect the Lord to take us in a different direction; we want so desperately to follow and go somewhere. This past spring, I began to struggle with discontent in my job. Even though it was very clear to me when I got the job a year before that this is where the Lord wanted me, I began to think that this was not the place for me. When I complained to the Lord, asking Him to please move me someplace else, He very clearly spoke “no.”
Last week I realized how little time I will have to work in my classroom before the school year starts, so I stopped in to get some stuff done. It worked out nicely since it’s on the way to Denver, where I was headed. After getting desks arranged and chatting with some other staff members, I headed down Highway 85 to meet a friend for coffee. I was thanking the Lord for the positive experience I had just had at school when “I Will Follow” began to play on my worship mix. One line that I hadn’t noticed before stuck out – where You stay, I’ll stay. But the song is about following. I had always thought of following as moving, going somewhere…but I realized that sometimes in following the Lord, we are not actually moving. Sometimes He may ask us to stay – and in staying, we are following His will. This was encouraging to me, as the Lord has asked me to stay where I am in my job.
I have been studying Ecclesiastes; I like chapter 3 verse 14: “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.” Everything that God does is eternal – and He chooses to include us in His work! He has placed me HERE for a reason – it is part of His plan, and He wants to use me.
This evening I drove back up to Greeley after our last summer vacation. Passing through Platteville, I glanced over and saw brilliant rays of sunshine streaming through the clouds, illuminating the school. Strange how I see such spiritual darkness, yet the Lord was revealing His beauty right there in its place. I was in awe – it was like God was showing me His splendor right there where He has placed me, reminding me that He is there and that His work endures forever.