Blog – 3-1-17
I remember very clearly when Rachel and I started writing the song for Step 4. Step 4 is the “down and dirty” step. It says, “We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” This is where you have to get very real and honest about who you are, shortcomings and all.
I immediately said to Rachel, “How are we possibly going to make this song positive? This step is HARD!” I remember very clearly yet today going through Step 4 for the first time in my 20’s when I was in Al-Anon. It was brutal. It was exhausting. It was hard to look at all the ways you had let God and yourself down and write your deep dark secrets down on paper. How could we find a way to write a song that would encourage others to expose themselves in this manner?
As we sat there and started talking through different ideas, we began to get a beautiful image. We started visualizing a river and God inviting us to come to that river so He could wash all our junk away.
The whole point of the cross is so that each of us can come to the river with all our shortcomings, all our mistakes, all the things we wish we could take back, all the lapses in judgment, all our acts of rebellion, all our skeletons, and let the cleansing waters of God’s love and grace wash them away. As we ran with this image and started writing the song, what had become so intimidating suddenly became something very beautiful!
A river where we are made clean, that’s what grace is all about!
And the cool thing is, the dirtier we are, the better that cleansing water looks and feels!
The more honest we are about our sin, the more clearly we see the beauty of the cross. The more we see our sin, the more the sacrifice Jesus made for us becomes absolutely astounding.
When I got done with Step 4 back in my 20’s and I sat there with my brokenness laying exposed before me, I remember feeling a deep longing build up inside me to get to know this Jesus better and stay near to Him. I needed that grace as much as I needed the air I was breathing at that moment because I felt my brokenness so strongly.
Step 4 is hard. Step 4 is intimidating. But Step 4 leads to true freedom!
If you’ve never been real with yourself and taken a moral inventory, I challenge you to do it now! I mean NOW! It will be hard, it will be brutal, but I guarantee you will see the beauty of the cross in a whole new way when you are more aware of exactly how much you need it!
I’ve included a demo of the song below. Just click on the “Play Song Here” button. It takes a second or two for the song to start, so please be patient. It’s worth it!
As you read these words and listen to the music, I hope it will encourage you to get real and come to the river. God’s grace is waiting!
A quick update on the project: The vocals are almost done. I was in Nashville last week, and we got my background vocals completed at 11:00 on Friday night and I flew home at 9:00 the next morning. Whew! Rachel has a few background vocals to finish up, and then we will be mixing and mastering. We are on track to having the CD in our hands by April! Woo hoo!
Here’s the lyrics and the link for the song. Enjoy!
Cleansing Waters Flow Words and music by Jill Miller and Rachel Barrentine ©2016
I’ve been hiding behind a mask My inner darkness chains me to my past Trying to cover all these wretched scars But these secrets starve my thirsty heart
My sin hits me like a desert storm I’m buried under the guilt I can’t ignore But then you whisper, child, come to me Come to the river where you can be redeemed
I bring my mess, my brokenness You wash away all my shame With your blood that makes me whole I come to the river where your cleansing waters flow
I feel the rushing water on my skin Your healing current gives me life again The heaviness I’ve carried drifts away I’m underneath the fountain of your grace
I bring my mess, my brokenness You wash away all my shame With your blood that makes me whole I come to the river where your cleansing waters flow
Cleansing waters flow, cleansing waters flow Cleansing waters flow, cleansing waters flow
I bring my mess, my brokenness You wash away all my shame With your blood that makes me whole I come to the river where your cleansing waters flow I come to the river where your cleansing waters flow Cleansing waters flow Come to the river
Hugs and love,
Jill