We have a tradition in our house. Clean-up after dinner is the teens’ job. So we do it to music. Loud music. Every night, until tidying is done, we can be found belting out tobyMac, Hawk Nelson, Skillet, Paul McCartney, and anything else that strikes us.
But as I was washing a pot this one specific evening, my brother turned on a song I’d never heard before. It was by NEEDTOBREATHE, and it was titled, Keep Your Eyes Wide Open. As I listened, I was captivated. I hadn’t felt very close to God lately, and life was changing for me. I was heading to college in a month or so, I was transitioning to young adulthood, reaching that age where you wonder exactly why things are the way they are, including Jesus Himself. But as this song played, I suddenly felt that this was God speaking to me. To me, in my own little bubble of unsureness and seeming insecurity;
If you could soldier on, headstrong into the storm
I’ll be here waiting on the other side
Don’t look back, the road is long
The first days of the war are gone
Take back your former throne and turn the tide
Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
Keep your eyes open, my love
So tell me you’re strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me to
Keep your eyes open, my love
I was swept into a world of God’s view of me. He knew if I never left home, and never made this frightening jump to Boise for three months without my family, I would never leave for anything else either. He knew of the great adventures ahead, of the struggles I was facing now, and His words to me were, “I have this in My Hand. Jump, I’ll catch you.” He wanted me to know I was not alone.
Just past the circumstance,
The first light, a second chance,
No child could ever dance the way you do, oh
Tear down the prison walls
Don’t start the curtain call
Your chains will never fall until you do
Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown till you
Keep your eyes open, my love
So show me your fire, show me your heart
You know I’ll never let you fall apart if you
Keep your eyes open, my love
I can’t say I was suddenly washed away in a sense of fearlessnesss, or that a ray of golden sun suddenly appeared on my face. But I knew I needed to hear that song again, knew it was a message for me.
Open up
Open up
Open up your eyes
The weight is unbroken
Open up
Open up
Open up your eyes
Keep your eyes open
Don’t let the night become the day
Don’t take the darkness to the grave
I know pain is just a place
The will has been broken
Don’t let the fear become the hate
Don’t take the sadness to the grave
I know the fight is on the way
When the sides have been chosen
Cause if you never leave home, never let go
You’ll never make it to the great unknown
Open up your eyes
Keep your eyes open
So tell me you’re strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me to
Keep your eyes open, my love
So show me your fire, show me your heart
You know I’ll never let you fall apart if you
Keep your eyes open, my love
Keep your eyes (Keep your eyes open)
When you know that God has just spoken to you, it’s an amazing moment, and I knew– I could make it. It would still be hard, still was hard, but He knew that. And He was calling me forward.
This was two months ago. I have since made that jump. And let me tell you, it was one of the hardest, scariest things I’ve ever done. But I did it. And guess what? He was waiting on the other side, just like He said He would be.
Want to hear the song?