There's so much MORE!

"If I Stand" is a beautifully-written song! It reflects our ultimate desire for God and the need of Him in our lives. Mullins acknowledges and praises God's beauty by comparing Him to His creation, saying He is SO much better than anything and everything! The repetition of the word "more" and other comparative words, like "higher" and "deeper," lends to the poetic feel of this song and its fluidity from verse to verse and on to the chorus. These words also express the meaning of the song... There is so much more to God's beauty than what we see. There is more to life than what we understand. And our hearts secretly, deeply long for God and long to know His goodness! Every good thing on this earth doesn't even come remotely close to how good our God is! In this song, Mullins expresses that all things on earth are nothing unless rooted in Christ. Whatever we do, it should come from our hearts' desires to be close to Him. There are a lot of non-literal phrases in this song, such as "stand on the promise" and "fall on grace," that provide images for eternal truths that may otherwise be difficult to convey. For example, "stand[ing] on the promise" most likely means being confident that God can carry us through everything, no matter what the circumstances are. Furthermore, this song is basically a compilations of metaphors, stating that God's love is all of these things (a mother's gentleness with her baby, the fierceness of the ocean, the sun that brings light to the earth) and so much more! Finally, the persona of this song could very well be Rich Mullins himself, or it could be any man (person) who's heart is after God's. I think Mullins wrote this with his own relationship with God in mind, so he would probably be the persona of this song. Overall, I love the lyrics of this song and believe they very well represent that God is the best there is, and nothing could ever compare! Earthly things and relationships vie for our full attention and love, but we belong to God and He deserves all of us... "The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things."