Where Can I Go That My Maker Won't Be?

The question at the end of the doomscroll

My goal for the last few months of 2024 was to write a post every week. I didn’t quite hit that goal, but I did end up writing a lot. I wrote every week—I just didn’t share everything I wrote. Yet.

I wrote so much that I decided to take January off and let my brain rest a little.

But no one’s brain got to rest in January. Or the first part of February. Because the world is insane.

Lately, I’ve been reading the books of Luke and Isaiah (in between my doomscrolling) and finding some solace in the remarkably similar contexts underlying all three eras: greedy and arrogant rulers trampling over the lives of the less powerful—for money, for control, for fun. And doing it in the name of some god they claim to be the true God, though—upon closer inspection—he bears little resemblance to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of Jesus, the humble King.

At the whims of health, weather, or a despot, people everywhere have suddenly lost their livelihoods, been separated from their families, and villainized when they ought to be welcomed. They are harmed instead of helped and healed.

In both biblical stories and headline after headline, people wander the pages asking, God, where are You? Why is this happening?

Cancer crash-landed into our household 16 months ago, and not a day goes by without each of us asking those questions in some form or another.

And yet, for us, not a day has passed without food on the table or power in the wires. I realize those are gifts not all of God’s children receive each day. I don’t quite know what to make of that, but I am thankful for the ways God has provided for us, even in these days of incredible hardship.

Because the truth is, most of us are walking through some kind of hardship most of the time.

That’s why it’s so beautiful that Christ came to us not as a Superman but simply as one of us. A helpless baby, born to an unwed mother, who became an immigrant and a refugee. A blue-collar worker. A homeless man with no place to lay his head.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” - Matthew 25:40

Not only did Christ come down to all of humanity 2000 years ago, but he left the Friend, the Helper, the Advocate, “the one who walks beside”, the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - to be with each of us, in every moment.

In these days of fear and anxiety, when the things we depend on daily are carelessly batted around by psychotic billionaires in snarky social media posts—and far worse, when I see the name of my God taken in vain, weaponized to treat people with apathy and cruelty rather than kindness and dignity—I am so, so, so glad that the headlines are not the deepest truth.

There’s never a shortage of real-life examples to add to this list…

I am so thankful that I can read in Luke and Isaiah—and the rest of the Gospels and prophets—that blessed are the poor, the merciful, the mourning, and the peacemakers. To know that God is faithful to them. He always was and always will be.

Trusting in anything else—any king, president, job, program, skillset, or relationship—will always leave you abandoned or alone.

But we take each step—each breath—with the Spirit of God alive within us. Where could we go that our Maker won’t be?

This past week, Anchor Hymns released a song that could not have been more perfectly timed for everything stirring in my own heart—and for everything I’ve seen happening in the world.

It’s wild because we recorded this over a year ago. It took a bit longer than usual to finish, and I’m thrilled it’s finally coming out now. Just when I needed it.

Check out these lyrics:

Where Can I Go That My Maker Won’t Be? Written by Zach Bolen, Jason Houtsma & Taylor Leonhardt Lord did you not write the very first page?  At the very beginning your hands in the clay?  Did you not carve the mountains and scatter the stars?  Did you not call it good: the light and the dark?    Lord did you not, write the song of my life?  Knit my soul to my body, put the light in my eyes?  Did you not feel my heartbeat, with a smile on your face?  Did you not call it good, this person you made?    Where can I go that my maker won’t be?  You were there, you are here, and you’ll always be    Lord do you not give me all that I need?  The bread on my table, the water I drink?  Do you not share your treasures, more precious than gold?  Will I not call it good, when my cup overflows?    Where can I go that my maker won’t be?  You were there, you are here, and you’ll always be    Always, Always, Always You’ll always be Always, Always, Always Yes, You’ll always be   Lord did you not hold my hand in the night?  We sat in the silence and waited for light?  Have we not mourned together and planted these tears?  Will we not call it good, when the new life appears?    Lord in my living, Lord at my death    My comfort in this life, my hope in the next   Oh Lord at the close, will you not be the one  Turning the page, to your kingdom come?    Where can I go that my maker won’t be?  You were there, you are here, and you’ll  always be  Where can I go that my maker won’t be?  You were there, you are here, and you’ll  always be  You were there, you are here, and you’ll  always be  Always, Always, Always Yes, You’ll always be Always, Always, Always Yes, You’ll always be

Check out the video from the night we captured the recording.

And thanks for reading. It’s good to be back. Thankful for you all.