A group of Worship Arts students studying with an emphasis in Worship Ministry at
Grand Canyon University have released a three song
Worship EP on April 14, under the guidance of MercyMe's front man Bart Millard and producer Jeff Pardo. Everyone student in the program who is a part of this recording are freshman students, as this is the first year of the program (which also includes Digital Media and Production). This makes what the group ultimately accomplished even more noteworthy.
The album includes standout recordings of Tim Timmons' catchy song "Christ in Me," the All Sons & Daughters and Leeland penned song for the Church "Christ Be All Around Me," and the stunning new original song "Follow You." I had the chance to speak with Desiree Aguilar and Jessica Sams about "Follow You."
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.
Desiree: Essentially about 6 years ago I got really sick from a random illness, I think from a street fair food sample, and I got a weird third world disease that you get from drinking tainted ground water. I hadn't even been out of the country. God had a plan in it, for sure. I didn't know what was wrong with me for a really long time, and it caused a lot of problems. It took a long time to diagnose my illness because it was so unusual.
After about a year and being treated with a lot of antibiotics, not knowing what was wrong, I was severely ill. I was walking through facing the possibility of death, being normal one day, and not the next. A side effect of taking a lot of medications and facing a lot of fear were panic and anxiety attacks. Those had been severe for a long time.
Going to Grand Canyon University was a huge answer to prayer. My journey relied on being faithful to God when I couldn't see past the panic attacks. I prayed that God would be in control for me to be able to go to even one class without being overwhelmed. My journey has been an exercise in faithfulness to God and being obedient despite how I felt. When it came time to write this song, I was trying to do my homework because it is a song I wrote for my songwriting class for our Worship Arts program.
There are a lot of Christian songs about God lifting our heads when we are walking through things, saying that God cares about you when you are suffering. I wanted a song about being obedient to God despite what you are feeling. A lot of times, being a Christian doesn't mean everything feels nice. It is about doing what God has commanded. I was sitting in a room with Jessica talking about how I was feeling. I had some verses, and we were trying to get to the heart of what I was trying to say, and we came to Psalm 23:4 about walking through the shadow of death and God being with us. I wanted to write a song that I can sing about faithfulness to God whether I am at the top of the mountain or bottom of the valley.
Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?
Psalm 23:4 (VOICE): Even in the unending shadows of death's darkness, I am not overcome by fear. Because You are with me in those dark moments, near with Your protection and guidance, I am comforted.
Zephaniah 3:17 (VOICE): "The Eternal your God is standing right here among you, and He is the champion who will rescue you. He will joyfully celebrate over you; He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband."
Psalm 121 (NKJV): "I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."
Matthew 11:28 (NIV): "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
What is the takeaway message?
Desiree: In working with Bart Millard from MercyMe and Jeff Pardo the producer, we talked about what God would say back when He sees us walking through a valley in faithfulness. He has a song that He is singing over us at the same time. That's when we added the bridge, "
Come and rest My love, all the work is done," which is God telling me He's got it and He's been with me the whole time.
Jessica: Desiree and I clicked right away when we met at school. We were both terrified in our new experience of being away from home. By God's grace, we both ended up here. I wanted to be a worship leader growing up, and I got a scholarship at Grand Canyon, and at the time they didn't have the Worship Arts program. I met with my advisor and they enrolled me in the new program, and I knew that God wanted me to be here. I worked with Desiree on the song, and we were on the same page, for sure.
Desiree: Writing and recording this song was a really cool exercise in trusting God and seeing God's faithfulness. One of the things that was super encouraging was how when I first wrote the song, Jessie played the piano part. I asked her if she could play something that sounded like a girl sitting at the piano pouring her heart out to God, letting it go and singing this song with trust. By the time it got to Jeff and Bart, there was a different piano part. I was in the studio and singing, and I was overwhelmed by the experience.
Jeff Pardo took me aside and said for the beginning of the song, he wanted it to sound like a girl sitting at the piano just worshipping and pouring her heart out to God. It was like God took my heart and his heart for the song and connected them at the same time, and I realized in that moment that God had a plan for the song before it was ever written. God always knew He wanted these particular people to be a part of the song. It was a super confirmation of the goodness of God and His message getting through. It's not my song. It's God's song. It is what God wants to say and what God wants other people to hear. He is saying to us, "Come and rest, I've got it."
Lyrics:
When it seems all hope is gone
When I feel my faith is shaking
When my heart can't find a song
‘Cause it can't get past the breaking
I lift my eyes and see
Lord You've been singing over me
Through the valley of the shadow
Through the doubt and through the sorrow
I will follow You
I will follow You
I'll set my mind on things above
Remember I'm not who I was
And I will follow You
I will follow You
You're not finished with me yet
But in those moments I forget
I lift my eyes and see
Lord You've been singing over me
I lift my eyes and see
Lord You've been singing over me
Come and rest My love
All the work is done
The cross was enough
The cross is enough
You are not your shame
Redeemed is your name
The cross was enough
The cross is enough
We all deal with some level of fear, worry and anxiety. God knows that about us, and after I read somewhere that He tells us to not have fear or worry in His Word 365 times, enough for one time each day, I have been attentive to that concept in my daily Bible study. I have found that by being washed by the water of the Word, I am strengthened with the Truth that God wants us to know that fear, worry and being anxious is not His plan for our lives.
By reading the Bible every day, God wants us to have a daily reminder not to be afraid. The Good News of the Gospel which this song perfectly portrays is that God accepts us no matter what we've done or what we are going through. As the song sings, "
You're not finished with me yet, but in those moments I forget, I lift my eyes and see, Lord You've been singing over me."
The bridge of this song is the response of God singing back to us as expressed in Zephaniah 3:17. We can all know that when we bring our heavy hearts to God in sincere prayer, He hears us and sings back to us. He wants a relationship with us, and He is rejoicing over us with singing, which blows me away every time I think about it.
"Follow You" connects to the biblical Truth found in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." God loves you so much. Lean on Him and He'll give you strength. If you are a follower of Jesus, you can know for certain that God is singing these words over you: "
Come and rest My love, all the work is done. The cross was enough, the cross is enough!" Amen to that!
(Watch the lyric video
here.)