John Fischer The Catch

BEFORE                     AFTER

We continue our series on the New Covenant using the songs from the New Covenant musical as a track to run on. And there will be a link to a YouTube version of the song to listen to at the end of each Catch. Enjoy and learn.

Ways and Means
Words and Music by Dale Annis

All along it seemed so wrong
To find myself where I didn’t belong
Laying low behind my dreams
I didn’t realize the ways and means
The ways and means of livin’

Time you know, it’s a funny thing
It holds on tight to your fondest dreams
You wish upon a star that they’d all come true
And you try to change, but when you do
You know that it ain’t easy
Because the hurts on you

Aw but don’t find yourself runnin’ child
You got a hand to lean on
And it don’t matter where you’ve been
Or how long you’ve been gone
Let Him help you on

And it’s so good when you’ve got a friend
Who won’t back out even in the end
He won’t let hate grow in your soul
Won’t leave you standin’ in the cold
He’ll never take his love and go

And oh how different life can
When all the changes don’t depend on me
And it’s so good not to bend
Under life time and time again
And the load’s so easy
Because it’s all on Him

‘Ways and Means’
by John Fischer

This is the transition song of the whole musical. Everything turns on this. It’s a “before” and “after” song. And it’s called “Ways and Means” because although we may know the way to becoming a Christian (“I am the way, the truth and the life”), many of us never learned the means by which we actually live the Christian life.

The dictionary calls “ways and means” the “methods and resources for accomplishing something.” Think about it. You can go through most of your life being a Christian without ever learning the methods and resources for living the Christian life. You either live your life in honest frustration like the girl in the “What Has Gone Wrong” song (see Feb 20 Catch), or you play the “Christian” game, wearing spiritual masks to cover your frustrations and inadequacies as in the “Evangelical Veil Productions” song (see Feb 23 Catch), without ever discovering the ways and means of living.

Yet, though this message is still setting people free from their frustrations and masquerades, so few Christians have ever found it. Whenever I teach the truths of the passage in 2 Corinthians 2:12-4:12, or sing some of these songs, or watch the musical being performed, or hear 40 years later how life-changing singing in the choir was in someone’s life, I am always amazed how many people claim they have never heard this message before. There it sits, two chapters in everyone’s Bible, and yet they’ve never heard it before. It’s like it’s a secret — a secret that should not be, but for some reason it is

So listen again to the song and listen for the before and after. And if you need some help, just follow along.

BEFORE

It seemed so wrong
Where I didn’t belong
Behind my dreams
Didn’t realize the ways and means of livin’
Time holds on tight to your fondest dreams
And you try to change, but when you do
You know that it ain’t easy
Because the hurts on you

AFTER

Don’t find yourself runnin’ child
You got a hand to lean on
It don’t matter where you’ve been
Or how long you’ve been gone
Let Him help you on
You’ve got a friend
Who won’t back out even in the end
Won’t let hate grow in your soul
Won’t leave you standin’ in the cold
He’ll never take his love and go
How different life can be
When all the changes don’t depend on me
So good not to bend
Under life time and time again
And the load’s so easy
Because it’s all on Him

There’s so many things we could pull out of these lyrics, but I’m going to focus on only two lines that I think are the most important. The first is from the “Before” section: “you try to change, but when you do, you know that it ain’t easy, because the hurts on you.” And the second is from the “After” section: “And oh how different life can be, when all the changes don’t depend on me.” See it? Trying to change yourself always ends up in failure, frustration and fallacy. But when the changes don’t depend on you, it is freeing — something is happening inside you that is not up to you; it’s up to the Lord. In other words, what the Lord expects of you, He works inside you. Yes, it may seem convoluted, but stick with us, it will all come together if it hasn’t yet.

And the load’s so easy
Because it’s all on Him

Click here for a YouTube version of “Ways and Means”.