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Frontiers - Vertical Church Band

I cannot feel your love so strong and still,
From where I've hidden.
I cannot hear your voice above my will,
But still You listen.

And all the while,
You call me to your grace,
All that I undid fades.

Lead me to the end of myself,
Take me to the edge of something greater.

I'm looking out beyond this great unknown,
Though I can't see it.
One day I'll see the place You call my home,
Lord, I'll be near it.

And all the while,
You call me to your grace,
All that I undid fades.

Lead me to the end of myself,
Take me to the edge of something greater.
Lead me to the end of myself,
Take me to the edge of something greater.

I am standing on the great frontiers,
Of your love, of your love.
You have overcome my deepest fears,
With your love, with your love.

I am standing on the great frontiers,
Of your love, of your love.
You have overcome my deepest fears,
With your love, with your love.

I am standing on the great frontiers,
Of your love, of your love.
You have overcome my deepest fears,
With your love, with your love.

Lead me to the end of myself,
Take me to the edge of something greater.
Lead me to the end of myself,
Take me to the edge of something greater.
Something greater.

John 3:30 – “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Luke 14:25-27 – “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

I tend to be in a reflective state of mind at this time of year. This past weekend we took our daughter to get her annual picture with Santa taken. Even though she’s nine years old, she still loves the magic of the season. After posting her cuteness online, Facebook shared memories with me of past Christmas postings and I was able to see how much she’s grown each year through the numerous pictures we’ve posted. And it struck me how this freshly posted picture will be simply a memory in, what feels like, a blink of an eye.

When I reflect upon my own growth over the years, it becomes an overview of my personal and spiritual growth – or lack thereof. This kind of growth is not always readily visible from the outside. Ideally, the person I am today is an improved version of the person I was a decade ago. The challenges that God allowed me to go through have shaped me into the person I am today. While struggling through them, I asked for the pain to be removed. I prayed away the trials. I hated the suffering. But, without the struggles I endured, I would not have learned to seek God’s will first and adjust mine to His.

The song Frontiers by Vertical Church Band calls us out to unabashedly follow Christ wherever He calls us to go. The phrase, “Lead me to the end of myself” is one statement that I pray will be true each and every time I say it. I am an inherently selfish person. I seek out my own way and desire to fulfill my own will. But, the more I align myself to Christ and follow His teachings, this battle becomes less severe. It remains a battle nonetheless.

The follow up phrase to “Lead me to the end of myself” is “Take me to edge of something greater”. This is my wholehearted desire. That I will abandon the will of my flesh and follow Christ into the greater life He has for me to live. One that is not for myself but for Him. A life of service to others. A life of sacrifice in my time, in my finances, in my comfort.

If I had known in advance the trials God was going to allow in my life, I would have asked for them to never occur. I would not willingly choose to experience the pain that those trials caused. In reflecting on them now that time has lapsed, I can’t say I would ask for them to happen but I can say that without them, I would never know God the way I do today and for that I am eternally grateful. He brought about joy from the pain.

The Lord has called me out to various new frontiers in my life. Some, I joyfully desire to follow Him into – even in the unknown of the situation. Others, I hesitantly shuffle my feet along as He moulds me into the person He desires me to be. What frontier is He calling you to today? Is it a new phase in life that you are readily anticipating? Is it a painful situation that you would desire He remove from your life rather than enduring it? Follow Him wherever He has called you today. The joyful and the painful journeys bring us closer to Him as He carries us through them. The end result, as we submit to His greater will, is one that leaves us changed forever. Changed into the men and women that God can use to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus Christ.