At the Pathways of Grace conference this past weekend, we sang a new song called “Look to Jesus.”
On your hardest days, what is it that you need the most? When bad news comes, when your chronic pain doesn’t go away, when your kids are kicking and screaming on the ground again, when broken relationships sting, when the pain of loss persists, when your heart is burdened by confusion and sadness, when evil prevails in the world, or when the uncertainties and worries of the day make it easier to just stay in bed, what is it that you need?
Anyone’s first thought might be that what is needed is a change in circumstances. But the Scriptures say that the Christian, more than anything, needs the nearness of their Savior. And when everything in ourselves and our lives tempts us to forget Christ or look to other saviors amid pain and suffering, we must fight to remind ourselves of the truth.
“Look to Jesus” is a song for sufferers in the midst of that battle to trust in Christ in the midst of a difficulty; It’s a song the body of Christ can use to minister to each other by singing truth to cling to on hard days. I had the privilege of writing this song alongside a few friends, Kyle De Guzman and Jonathan Nah. They are dear brothers, skilled musicians, and like-minded worship leaders who have a heart for writing theologically rich songs for the church that encourage worship in spirit
and truth. Caleb Kira also gave helpful feedback!
Pastor Kim came to me with the idea of writing a song ministering to those affected by disability earlier this year as planning for the POG conference was in full swing, and I immediately brought the idea to Kyle. There were a bunch of comforting truths from the Scriptures that just jumped at us we started writing, but we were really drawn to one of Kyle’s ideas, which became this song.
To aid us in our writing, I had asked some Lighthouse families to share some stories and testimonies of God’s grace in disability with us, and one of the themes that stood out was the difficulty of living in “the already but not yet”; the struggle of feeling, “I know that heaven is real and gives me hope for the future, but today is still hard. I’m still hurting, and I’m still worried. What do I do about today??” Considering that theme, Kyle wanted to write a song that serves as a corporate encouragement to individuals who are hurting and anxious. The idea accords beautifully with the theme of “Pathways of Grace”; the best that we can do for one another is to point to and position each other to receive the grace of Christ; we all need Jesus, and corporate singing is a pathway to receive that grace. Those who struggle and suffer today need the word of Christ to dwell in them richly, and the church gets to do that together as we lift our voices in song. The song also is not exclusive to those affected by disability, so it can be broadly used as an encouragement for sufferers.
Each verse calls out to a group who is suffering in the church and gives an encouragement to look to Jesus as well as an invitation to come to him, followed by truths that motivate or make sense of that encouragement and invitation.
Verse 1
Look to Jesus, oh you who suffer
Come and lay your burdens now
He has promised to remember
All the lowly and cast down
King of glory, the Mighty One
Took upon our feeble flesh
Shared our sufferings; shamed and shunned
Was despised unto His death
so Look to Jesus, you who suffer
Come and lay your burdens now
Verse 2
Look to Jesus, you who worry
Come and trust the faithful one
See the Father’s love and mercy
Flowing from His only Son
See the flowers of the field
Look at how they bloom so bright
In their glory they reveal
His provision, love, and might
so Look to Jesus, oh you who worry
Come and trust the faithful one
Verse 3
Look to Jesus, oh you who anguish
Come and take your refuge here
Though in darkness you still languish
Christ has promised He is near
He will lead you through the night
By His light, the way is shown
Till your faith is turned to sight
And you reach your heavenly home
So Look to Jesus, oh you who anguish
Come and take your refuge here
Lyric Explanation
Verse 1
The first verse calls to those who suffer. All those who suffer must come to Jesus to find rest; there is no other place where true rest is possible. The choice of the word “now” is intentional, for a temptation of the sufferer’s heart is to delay coming to Jesus and to think, “I’m too broken and too messed up to receive God’s love.” But Matthew 11:28 has both the force of an imperative and the comfort of an invitation; you can and must come to Jesus and receive rest from your burdens,
and not later or when you feel you deserve it, but immediately, at once.
The truth that motivates this is two-fold: Christ not only remembers you in your suffering, but he knows your suffering and can empathize with you as you suffer because he experienced the depth of it himself in his incarnation. He knows what it is like to be a human, to hurt and groan, to be shamed, shunned, and despised by others, and to experience death. And therefore when he calls you to come to him, he calls with compassion and with full understanding that he truly and he
alone is what you need in the midst of your suffering.
Verse 2
The second verse addresses the anxious, worried heart, and the call is to come and trust Jesus, who is the faithful one, the one from whom all blessings flow. This verse draws from the words of Jesus in Matthew 6, where he proves the father’s provision, love, and might from the glory
of the flowers of the field, prompting His listeners to trust him, for the Father will be faithful in his provision.
Verse 3
The third verse speaks to the distressed, anguishing heart, and the call is to come and be safe in Jesus. True safety and security, even in the midst of or in light of the persistence of all that threatens, harms, or weakens, is the nearness of Jesus; it is the safety of the great promise
that God will be our God and we will be his people. But while the simple nearness of Christ would be enough for us, the promise of his nearness blossoms into an even greater reality: he will lead us through the night! He does not leave us where we are, but guides our path until faith is turned to sight and we reach our heavenly home. Perfect rest with him. And those promises of his nearness and the hope of heaven motivate us to come to Jesus to take refuge in him.
Our prayer is that this song ministers to you personally as you hear truth sung to you, and that it is a resource to your church as sufferers are compelled to look to Jesus in the midst of pain, worry, and anguish.
