Do you ever read the fine print?
Many of us avoid the fine print. We scroll to the bottom of the Terms and Conditions and click “I Agree,” despite having no idea what they say. I often discover the content of the fine print when I cannot get what I want, or when I am confused about what an offer really includes.
It seems that everything in life has fine print. It feels like there’s the part everyone sees (think “Download this app and be able to do this really cool thing,”) and then there’s the part no one talks about - the fine print. (“By the way, we’re going to take all your data and share it widely.”)
One of the most popular songs on Air1 Radio explores that second part - the fine print of following Jesus. Following Jesus often includes difficulties that we weren’t prepared for when we first began following Him. In “Reason to Praise,” Cory Asbury and Naomi Raine sing about these moments.
“When I’m at my end…
When I hit a wall…
When I face a mountain…
When I’m out of faith…
When I’m at my worst…
When I’m breaking down…”
These words describe personal experiences that Asbury and Raine have walked through in recent years. Asbury’s career took off in 2018 when "Reckless Love" climbed to the top of the charts. But as great as things were at work, things were not great at home. “The record came out in January of 2018, so I want to say it was March that Anna, my wife, and I had a really honest connect and went like, 'Hey, this isn’t working. This is too much.' I was gone every weekend doing different radio events ‘cause radio was popping off at that point.”
RELATED CONTENT: Cory Asbury & Naomi Raine in “Reason To Praise”
Asbury ended up making a very difficult decision to step away from music for an entire year. “So, in this conversation Anna and I had, it was basically, 'Hey, this isn't working, let's ask God very pointedly, what we should do.' We heard a couple of phrases – very, very clearly in our hearts and our spirits. He made it really clear that it was time to take a break, and I remember that being a really weighty thing. I literally just cried and Anna sat there and cried with me ‘cause she knew what it meant for me to give up essentially a career and open doors and opportunities.”
Raine experienced her own struggles when Maverick City Music became incredibly popular. Initially, she didn’t handle them well. “I stayed in the bed. When I was home, I was in bed. And it took a lot to drag myself out. I didn’t know what I wanted to eat. Things that were normal were just exhausting at that point…And I wanted to drink. A lot. At one point, I realized, it was a probably two-week span and I was drinking every night.”
Both Raine and Asbury have described in interviews how their experiences are the kind of things which don’t often get explored publicly.
Raine said:
“Most of my fan base are Christians and I think sometimes Christians, we don’t have grace for humanity. I think God didn’t just create our spirits. He made us human, so I think it’s important that we’re allowed to be human. I was a good robot. I was able to do the right things but still feel terrible. But now I have a peace I didn’t have before. I am free, like for real, and I’m OK with me.”
Asbury echoed a similar sentiment when he talked about why he loves songs which show a full picture (as "Reason to Praise" does).
“The unraveling stuff is a lot of times, especially in the Christian world, people don't really care about that kind of stuff. They're just like, ‘Oh, give me the next big worship song,’ you know, but I think to me the journey songs, the story songs, the ones that can literally relate to and have a broader scope, those are the songs that make me really happy.”
Personally, reading these words from Naomi Raine and Cory Asbury led me to have a very different experience as I listened to "Reason to Praise." The ability of these two artists to hold both the goodness of God and the brokenness of themselves together is powerful. The words of "Reason to Praise" echo one of the most beloved sections of Paul’s writing in the New Testament.
In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”
I encourage you to go listen to "Reason to Praise" today with this new context in mind. As you listen, ask yourself two questions.
How can you hold God’s goodness and your brokenness together today?
Where are you experiencing God’s power today?
I pray that when the song ends, you’ll realize what I did. That despite all that’s gone on around me and in me, I still have a reason to praise!
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the proud parents of three children. He loves helping hurting people forgive others through his Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com.
