We Bring It All

We Bring It All is one of the songs I wrote with Ben and Jason when I was down in Nashville at the end of January. I thought I’d take the time to share a bit about the story behind it here.

The three of us sat down to do some writing and we already knew some of the guidelines. It had to be singable, it had to be full of theological truth, and it had to be compelling. Seems simple enough, but it really isn’t sometimes! After talking through a bunch of different ideas we asked ourselves what we thought our congregations could use – what we felt was lacking in our song libraries as worship leaders. We decided that how people are prepared when the enter the room is a big deal, and the first song (or things said from the front) can really make a difference. Often, we felt, people are told to leave their cares at the door. That’s not actually what church is about (though I understand where the saying comes from). We serve a God who wants us to bring everything to him – the good and the bad, the joys and the sorrows. That in mind, we penned this song.

There’s some sweet personal irony (or maybe just truth) to this right now. My life has been general shades of chaos over the past few weeks, every time I turn around something else less than good is happening. Ever since our son was born three and a half weeks ago, someone in our household has been sick – and not just mild sickness, but puking and IV’s and all kinds of fun. The day I was going to record this video I couldn’t because I was stuck at home dealing with a backed up sewerk – and this next week will likely bring a crew of guys digging up our front yard. On saturday night (before I had to play at 3 services on Sunday), I got the flu and spent a lot of time staring into the toilet. If I’m honest, when I went to record this song and share it with whoever wants to watch it, I was feeling a little bit like I’d been dealt some bad cards. Really God? We’re already not getting sleep, can’t our house at least not fall apart, can’t I just not get the flu, can’t we have a day when something isn’t going terribly wrong?

I’m glad I wrote this song. It has spoken to me in the past few weeks – we can and should bring it all to the cross. Jesus was the man of sorrows, and he welcomes us to come as we are – full of weaknesses, doubt, frustration, and everything else that we are. This is part of the good news of the gospel, we can bring it all and don’t have to hold anything back.

I hope you enjoy it. If you’d like a chord chart, just let me know and I’d be glad to pass one along. (and as always, if you’d like to be a part of making my EP happen, feel free to preorder or support me in other ways here)

Lyrics:
All of our secrets and sorrows
Our victories and our defeats
Our unbelief, our desperate pleas
Our lives and all our needs

We bring it all, we bring it all to You
We sing it out in Spirit and in truth
We bring it all, we bring it all to You

Our longings and hopes for the future
The unfaded scars of the past
Our story redeemed, and Your legacy
The stars will not outlast

O Man of Sorrows, what a name
Who welcomes all our grief and shame