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There’s a voice calling me from an old rugged tree
And it whispers, “Draw closer to ME.
Leave this world far behind,
There are new heights to climb
And a new place in Me you will find.”
Whatever it takes to draw closer to You, Lord,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
Whatever it takes to be more like You,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
Take the dearest things to me, if that’s how it must be,
To draw me closer to You.
Let the disappointments come,
Lonely days with out the sun
If through sorrow, more like You I’ll become.
Take my houses and lands.
Change my dreams and my plans
For I’m placing my life in Your hands.
And if you call me today to a land far away,
Lord, I’ll follow and Your will obey.
Whatever it takes to draw closer to You, Lord,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
Whatever it takes to be more like You,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
I’ll trade sunshine for rain,
Comfort for pain,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
Whatever it takes for my will to break-
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
My parents had this song on an album when I was a teenager and I liked it. I listened to it until I knew all of the words, then went around the house singing it.
As I have struggled with the desire to ask God to bring the rain back into my life, I thought of this song and a conversation that I had with my mother about it. I remember her telling me to be careful about asking God (yes, even in song) for something because He takes all of our words seriously. She did not want to frighten me, but wanted me to understand that, if I was going to ask God to “take the dearest things” from me, I should mean it. Since then, I have been careful about what I ask for.
I wanted to share this song with you, but I could not remember all of the words so I looked it up online. I noticed that those words were conspicuously missing in a couple of versions of the song. I guess that it is easy to say, “Send me to the mission field.” Or “Take my houses and lands.” (At least until He actually does it! Can anyone say 2010 – the year of foreclosures?)
But “Take the dearest things”!?!
For me that would be my husband and children – and I am not prepared to offer that!
I want to say it. I really do. But a vice grips my throat as the words are forming, and I have a vision of myself cringing and ducking behind my hands as I shield myself from impending doom.
When the lightning bolt does not strike immediately, I peek through my fingers and catch a glimpse of the loving expression on my Big God’s face. “My child,” He says, “It is not my intention to crush you, but to draw you closer to ME.”
Matters of the Heart
My Journey
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