I Read Somewhere

The idea for this song came from realizing how many different voices I allow into my head every day. I love learning. I listen to podcasts, read books, watch interviews, hear sermons and pay attention when someone seems to have figured something out. I’m naturally curious about how people think, how they build things and what they believe makes life meaningful.

The problem is that everybody has an answer.

One person says you need to work harder. Another says you need to slow down. One person says life is short, so leave everything behind and go see the world. Another says the most meaningful life is built by staying close to home and taking care of the people God placed around you. Some people say you have to find yourself. Others tell you that you are the only thing standing in your own way.

Most of those ideas are not completely wrong. That is what makes it complicated. There is usually some truth in them, but they are still somebody else’s view of life. They are often based on what worked for that person, during that particular season, with their personality, their family and their circumstances.

I started thinking about how often conversations begin with, “I read somewhere,” or, “I heard somebody say.” I do it too. We collect these little statements and carry them around like they are complete answers. Before long, we can have so many people speaking into our lives that it becomes difficult to know which voice we are actually following.

That is where this song came from.

I have spent a lot of my life trying to build things, solve problems and find the next opportunity. I believe in working hard. I believe that God gave us agency and expects us to use it. I do not believe faith means sitting around and waiting for life to happen. At the same time, I have also learned that working hard without understanding why I am doing it can become exhausting very quickly.

The world is very good at teaching us how to climb. It is not nearly as good at telling us which ladder is worth climbing.

That thought has been sitting with me. I can hustle, travel, build, earn and keep pushing forward, but none of those things automatically give my life purpose. They can become part of that purpose, but they cannot create it. I can also convince myself that every ambition I have must have come from God simply because I want it badly enough. That is where I have to slow down and be honest with myself.

Am I doing this because God is leading me somewhere, or because I am afraid of being left behind? Am I building something that serves my family and the people around me, or am I building something because I need other people to see that I succeeded? Am I being faithful, or am I hiding inside the safety of what I already know?

I do not always know the answer.

The biggest thought in the song is the line, “You knew me before I could read.” Before I read any books, heard any podcasts or started collecting everybody else’s advice, God already knew me. He knew my personality, my weaknesses, my strengths, my family and the things I would struggle to understand. He knew what I could become long before I started trying to define myself.

That does not mean God made me this way so I could stay exactly as I am. I do not believe that. He gave me agency so I could choose, learn, repent and become something better. But I also do not believe the purpose of this life is to spend every day chasing a version of success that somebody else created.

I think a lot of my purpose is probably much closer to me than I sometimes want to admit. Love the people God gave me. Serve where I am needed. Work hard at something that matters. Follow when He calls. Be willing to change when I am wrong. Stop treating every new opinion like it might finally explain my entire life.

I will keep reading. I will keep learning from people who know more than I do. I will probably keep starting sentences with, “I read somewhere.” The difference is that I am trying to remember that every piece of advice still has to pass through a more important question:

Is this helping me follow God, or is it simply giving me another voice to follow?

That is the testimony behind this song. God knew me before the world started telling me who I should be, and I believe He understands the purpose of my life better than any book, slogan, podcast or plan ever could.