CCM: You’ve accomplished a lot in your career to this point, and especially more recently, you seem to be on a roll. How has that contributed to this season of your life?
MW: Well, I think a lot of times we would tend to think that the most inspiring seasons come out of the most broken seasons of our lives, and I’ve been there. I bet if you asked anybody who’s a follower of Christ, “Have you ever faced a storm or a trial in your life, and if so, what did God show you through that?” You’d probably hear tons of stories because it’s a fact that God meets us in our brokenness, speaks to us in our brokenness, and grows us through our brokenness.

But I would also say that through this process, like you mentioned, I’ve had a lot of awesome things happen in my life lately. I’m not at a place where I was in 2008 when I was having vocal cord surgery, and I thought my career was over. Yet, that was an inspiring season because God brought me to my knees, and I was at this place of total helplessness and dependency, and a lot of songs came out of that experience. To me, this has been a season of going, “Okay, how do I stay desperate for the Lord even though I don’t feel desperate for the Lord? How do I stay on my knees, relying only on Him when it sure feels like I got this thing under control without Him?” That’s what, to me, All In is about. It’s like, man, whether I’m facing the best days of my life or the worst trial of my life, God’s calling me to live a life of complete and total dependence on Him instead of living my life going, “Man, I got this. Life is good.”

I guess that’s good evidence that, while I’m not perfect, my heart does belong to the Lord—because, even in these days of success and good things, I still feel this tug in my heart saying, “Guess what? There’s still more for you. There’s more for you.” And maybe it’s sometimes having some of those awards or successes happen that you realize, “Okay, this is not the end-all be-all.” This didn’t bring me the fulfillment that I thought it would. It’s a constant check-of-my-motives, like, “What am I doing this for? What really matters?”

Matthew West, CCM Magazine - image
I write a lot on this record about my family, about my daughters, and about my wife because I think I’m in this point where I am seeing the successes happen that I dreamed and worked so hard for, but I’m feeling like the Lord’s reminding me, “That’s all well and good, but don’t forget who I’ve called you to be inside your own home. Don’t get so caught up in being a name and a success in your career that you miss the boat at home. Don’t go to those places where your kids from up resenting you for it, and your marriage doesn’t flourish like I’ve designed it to be.” You know what I mean?

CLICK “5” TO ADVANCE

Leave a Reply