FREE SONG RESOURCES
Chord Sheet

Find it on your favorite
Music Streaming Service

Written in Luling, LA
April 9, 2021
Phil 4:4-13, Matt 6:8, Matt 6:31-34, Psalm 139:4

One evening in early April of 2021, I was alone in the house my family would come to live in a few months later in Luling, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans. We were nearing the end of a year apart where my wife served as the pastor of a church in a small Kansas town and our kids went to virtual school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as I served as the full time worship director for a church in Louisiana. With some help from the couple who had been hosting me for most of the last year, we found a great rental home that opened up at just the right time. Kind of.

The truth was, finances were tight. I wasn’t sure how we would manage to pay rent in two places at once, even for just a couple of months. Pastors of small churches and worship directors don’t really make rent-two-homes-at-a-time money. Beyond that, it was still a mystery how we would afford the cost of actually moving down to Louisiana from Kansas. Beyond that, I was starting to fear that my job down there may not work out but I was way too far down the runway to stop the plane.

As I was weighing all of this, we happened to hear from our friends Will and Amber Deeds, who were (and still are) serving as missionaries in Guatemala. They had been working with a small ministry down there and odd differences and dissonances between the leadership and our friends were starting to come to a breaking point. I felt a burden for their troubles as their troubles resonated with my own.

I tried to assure myself with promises of scripture. I remembered Jesus telling us not to worry, and that God knows what we need before we ask (Matt 6). I remember David stating the God hears his prayer before he even speaks it (Psalm 139). I remembered Paul instructing me to come to God with joyful praise and thanks so that the peace that passes understanding would guard my heart and mind (Phil 4). I remembered Keith Green encouraging me to “Keep doing your best and pray that it’s blest and he’ll take care of the rest.”

Reminding myself of these things and praying through them wasn’t enough that night. Maybe the Silvertone guitar and Blackstar practice amp I had brought home from work could help.

With those scriptures (and that Keith Green song) ringing in one ear and the anxiety-ridden sound of John Lennon exclaiming “Give you everything I got for a little peace of mind!” I began strumming and singing “Trying to trust you with all my concerns…”

The music and lyrics nearly fell into place in real time. I recorded this demo before my family moved down, when barely any furniture was in the house. I gave it a remix for this release in 2026.

Scripture advises us to come to God with joyful praise and thanks, and it's great advice. Sometimes, it's hard. Sometimes you need to start in your anxiety and find your way to joy. This song is for those times.