Most of you have no doubt heard the song, “Friends in Low Places”, made famous by country singer and songwriter, Garth Brooks [1990, No Fences]. It’s by far, one of my favorite songs, and is used to bring many people together on the dance floor or in the pub to sing together with great enthusiasm. I certainly love to sing it “loud and proud” with my friends too.
But did you ever take the time to really listen to the lyrics? It eloquently describes a man who is extremely down on his luck and scraping by on the bottom of life’s barrel, “…where the whiskey drowns, and the beer chases my blues away.” He’s so far down, it appears his only friends are in the same low places of life as well. Rejected, depressed, downtrodden from the love that he once had and now has lost. Nonetheless, he wants to assure everyone that he’ll be okay.
Maybe he will, but once he rolls over from the bottom of the barrel, he’s going to be looking for a friend in a higher place. When life puts you at the bottom of the barrel, there is only one direction to look and that is the best view of all to find a friend in a higher place. Look UP!!
So, what friend could he possibly have in a higher place? The Most High God!! Changing his perspective to focus his life on this new friend in a higher place will help him be okay. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” [Proverbs 3:5] If he does this, he’ll be okay.
As Christians, we know the Lord Most High holds complete supremacy above everybody, everything, and all circumstances of life. In conventional warfare, he who holds “air supremacy” controls the entire situation on the ground to best fight the enemy and win. We all want to reach that “higher perspective” to help us control our own lives. In our universe, it’s the Most High God who maintains supremacy (spiritually and physically) over us all and therefore, controls the entire situation according to His will. God is the best friend in high places that anyone can have to help us stay out of the bottom of life’s barrel. We just have to trust Him.
The guy in the song may feel helpless in his current circumstances, but he’s never hopeless. Rest assured that you and I, all of us, have a Friend in high places. The Most High God will never forsake us and will always be there for us. “I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” [Psalm 7: 17]
Live, Love, and Grow in Jesus!!
Blessings,
Jerry
