The song, “Where You Are” came from a time of seeking Jesus in the secret place.
There was a few months with our band, Leeland, where we were on tour and also helping Lee’s cousin, country artist, RaeLynn. Rae had asked Lee if he would travel with her for the first few months of her radio tour to sing backup vocals, play guitar and help her connect with radio stations.
During the radio tour, Lee was in Los Angeles with some time off. With time on his hands and not much to do sitting in some celebrity’s mansion, he grabbed his guitar and began to worship, seeking the Father’s heart (what he loves doing most). Lee told me the house felt dark and he had sensed a certain heaviness around it from whatever had taken place there.
As he began to worship from his heart, the words “I can’t get enough, of your amazing love, I just want to be where You are, I just want to be near Your heart, there is nothing like your love…” started to rise. That beautiful moment of worship turned into this special song.
I think the heaviness and darkness of that house is a representation of what the world and its trials tend to feel like sometimes — that is until we call out for Jesus, come closer, and draw near to Him again. When we do that, He is always faithful to pull us out of the darkness into His beautiful light and His sweet presence. And we can stay in that presence because our identity is Jesus. We are made in His image; Holy like He is holy.
In God’s presence, there is fullness of joy, peace, and love. There are so many verses that tell us about the love God has for us…
Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV) says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”
The Father always wants to spend time with us, His children. He made us so that we could have 1-on-1 communion with Him every second. Not just talking to Him when are in need, but just talking with Him because He is our BEST FRIEND and He loves to hear from us about everything. Jesus cares about us so much. He never sleeps, and is always thinking about us. He delights in us. We are precious to Him. We can always be where He is because He is always in us.
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God …will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
My all time new favorite song from Leeland since being a Leeland lover since Sound of Melodies – I could sing every single song from every album from memory! I remember listening to this song during shower – it’s their EP version… and His Love and Spirit came over me and I broke down into tears… I couldn’t control myself but to be on my knees with hands lifted high and tear down my face because I had such a powerful, intimate encounter with the Father through this simple song of love. It has since brought me to a new understanding of true worship. My spiritual life was in stagnant and I was longing for a breakthrough, and this song carried me through the darkness and into a new light of God’s presence and glory. We’ve led this song twice at our church and it has brought many to tears and an intimate encounter with Jesus also. Thank you Leeland for such an impactful song – and I’m so glad that you are now a part of the Bethel Music family!