Hold Me, Jesus

It was the summer of 1994. I had spent the school year as a substitute teacher, having taken my family of six from a bad situation at the church I had been serving (as Youth & Worship Minister) back home to Northeast Indiana.

I was driving to the 4-season porch factory where I was working, listening to a tape of Rich Mullins' album, A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band.

There I was, wondering if my best days were behind me...wondering if the great moments of spiritual victory and meaningful fellowship were forever in my past and never to be repeated...wondering if God would ever choose to use me in His Kingdom again. And then, in the song Hold Me, Jesus, Rich sang the words, "You have been King of my Glory; won't you be my Prince of Peace", and I had to pull off the road. I couldn't see where I was going because of my flowing tears.

https://youtu.be/8gBGGX3yvMo

Well, sometimes my life just don't make sense at all 
When the mountains look so big 
And my faith just seems so small 

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf 
You have been King of my glory 
Won't You be my Prince of Peace 

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark 
It's so hot inside my soul 
I swear there must be blisters on my heart 

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf 
You have been King of my glory 
Won't You be my Prince of Peace 

Surrender don't come natural to me 
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want 
Than to take what You give that I need 
And I've beat my head against so many walls 
Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees 

And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn 
And Your grace rings out so deep 
It makes my resistance seem so thin 

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf 
You have been King of my glory 
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

I'm singing hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf 
You have been King of my glory 
Won't You be my Prince of Peace 

You have been King of my glory 

Won't You be my Prince of Peace
Words & Music by Rich Mullins
c.1993 Edward Grant, Inc. (ASCAP)

Truth is...I've had more than one moment in my life when God's closeness and provision and wise direction all seemed to be in the rear-view mirror...and He has always...always...provided peace and provision in the present, and a powerful reminder of His love for me that will never end.