A New Song for a New Day By Matt May

While I was sick, I clung tightly to those things that brought me comfort and peace. From conversations with friends and letters from around the country to impactful Bible verses and songs. 

One such song is Shoulders by for KING & COUNTRY. The song was a constant reminder that God “carries my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on (His) shoulders.” It implored me to shed the weight of my illness because I wasn’t made to carry it, He was. He was born to bear all my pain, all my afflictions, and all my sins, along with the rest of creation. 

And while I can’t be reminded of this truth enough, as I attempt to write a new chapter in my life, I needed a new rallying cry. 

God delivered this truth once again though a song by @for KING & COUNTRY, Burn The Ships. When I first heard it, my mind immediately had one question, what the heck does it mean to burn the ships? I just wrote it off as an Australian thing, since the duo is comprised of brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, who moved to from Australia to Nashville when they were teens. 

I would find out the real meaning of those words at the Missouri State Fair, where the duo performed. 

Before playing the song, they took a minute to explain the story behind it, and that “burn the ships” comes from a legend of an explorer who, after arriving in a new land, burned his own ships as a way of telling his men that there was no going back to the way things were. That their past lives were gone. 

The song Burn The Ships uses that idea to encourage listeners to turn from their brokenness and towards the freedom of tomorrow. So that is what I am doing, choosing to “step into a new day,” where my past doesn’t define me, and my sickness no longer haunts me. A day where I can “rise up from the dust and walk away.” A day where I can, triumphantly, “dance upon my heartache.”

Sure, my fight with cancer will always be a part of me, but I am done letting it control or define me. There is and will be much more to my story than just this chapter. 

If you’re struggling with walking away from something that has a hold on you, I encourage you to listen to this song, “leave the past and don’t look back.”  

You can listen to the full song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVrOuKVBuY