Memories invade our hearts when we consider the history of this piece. The crux of the tune was formed before Living By The Stream was a figment in our imagination. It began as just a fun melody to throw around at home, during church gatherings in the park, or at a little downtown cafe. When deciding to record the piece, we realized that there were some vital parts needed. It was then that the piece truly began to find a deeper place in our hearts and take on the form you can now listen to on the album.
The opening is contemplative, if not somewhat pensive, revealing a deep heart cry to be known, comforted, and loved. It is perhaps lonely and searching. Out of this reverie, however, joy seems to suddenly burst forth, representative of what Christ does when we decide to trust Him in the midst of our hurt. He takes on our loneliness, worry, shame, wickedness, and regret, crying out for all the world to hear, “Let me bear that for you, as your friend, brother, father, and Lord!”
It is in this way that God takes all of our entire life and being in hand. No matter what the fear, the danger, and hopelessness, He tells us not to worry about the coming days, but to plant and anchor our trust in Him, gazing at life in the light of eternity.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
