The Point of No Improvement


Relient K was the band that really sparked my love of music. Their second album was packed full of fun, pop culture reference overloaded, punk rock goodness. However, I never would have discovered this band or this album if it wasn't for a song entitled For the Moments I Feel Faint. It became an instant favorite for me when I heard it on the radio, and it was added quickly to the list of songs my friend Chad and I covered when we performed concerts in his storage shed.

This song was loaded with thoughts and questions that I was dealing with myself, and honestly, I still deal with those questions from time to time:

"Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement;
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?"

I've been to that point of feeling stuck, not knowing if I'm growing or getting anywhere in life, spiritually or otherwise. To hear that frustration expressed in a simple melodic song helped me with those feelings because I realized that I wasn't the only one feeling that way.

Thankfully, Matthew Thiessen and his band didn't leave the contemplations in that state of despair. The chorus brought my focus back to the only hope I had of getting out of that miserable rut:

"Never underestimate my Jesus!
You're telling me that there's no hope;
I'm telling you you're wrong.
Never underestimate my Jesus,
Fit when the world around you crumbles,
He will be strong, He will be strong!"

I didn't realize it at the time, but within a couple years of loving this song, the world around my 13-year-old life would, indeed, crumble. If it wasn't for the messages being spoken into my life by artists like Relient K and others I came to know and love because of them, I honestly don't know what paths my life may have taken after that.

Life happens, and it certainly isn't always good. What messages are you allowing to influence you throughout the process? Allow me to repeat a message that rings true throughout all time. Regardless of all outlying circumstances, there is always hope, help, and healing. When the situation seems impossible and like no one could ever solve what you're going through, He will be strong.

NEVER underestimate my Jesus.

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