You Are My Hope - The Song Story

So, in my last post I shared the story behind my recent release, It is Finished. This time around, I want to tell you a bit about the first song I released, You Are My Hope.

I wrote You Are My Hope with my good friend Wisdom Moon. In addition to being a worship leader, podcaster, resource website creator (check out AllAboutWorship.com for some great worship leader resources!), father, husband, all around handsome guy and social media mogul, he is also a solid songwriter and musician. Back in 2012, Wisdom and I got together to do some writing. This is shortly after a writer’s retreat in Nashville that spring, and I was excited to bust out the guitars and iPads with this guy.

At this time, Wisdom was walking through some life changes that required him and his family to step out in faith in a big way. There seemed to be other options, but the way God was leading them seemed unclear. Wisdom didn’t necessarily know what it was going to look like, or what exactly was going to happen. He just knew that God was in control and was leading him, and he had to follow.

The chorus idea came from a conversation I was a part of with some other ministry friends, in which Wisdom was sharing about his situation and said something along the lines of “If God asked you to jump off a cliff, would you jump?” That idea stuck with me, and it helped ignite the central idea of the chorus in the song:

“If you lead me to the valley, I’ll seek You

If you bring me to the mountain, I’ll climb after You

If you guide me through the desert, I’ll follow

My rock and salvation

You are my hope”

Now, for Wisdom, there were challenges in his life that were impacting this decision that he had to make. He had to choose to follow God’s leading, even when battling some of those questions. This idea of hoping and trusting in God in the midst of darkness is what built our verses. Even “when the darkness closes in” and “when I cannot see Your light”, we will follow. Our hope is in God.

Finally, the bridge is a proclamation that God is indeed our rock and our stronghold, and because of Him, we will not be shaken. It’s the culmination of the entire song’s message, which is ultimately a prayer: God, there is darkness and uncertainty. But we trust in You. No matter where you lead us, we will follow. For you are our strength, and in You we are never shaken.

Man . . . that’s good stuff to be reminded of.

We were blessed and lucky to have the great Sean Hill produce this song, and the incredibly talented Kennedy Goins provide the vocal talent. It was great working with them on this project, and without them, this song would not be what it is.

You can still download the song for free on Noisetrade here: http://noisetrade.com/yamh/you-are-my-hope
You can also purchase the song on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/you-are-my-hope-feat.-kennedy/id589441592

And, for a sneak peek behind the recording process, check out this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3N0489_cfM