234. Rock Goes The Gospel - Seether "Rise Above This"

"Rise Above This" is the second single from Seether's album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. It is the sixth track on the album and became the band's second consecutive number-one song on the U.S. Modern Rock chart. Frontman Shaun Morgan wrote this enduring song about his late brother Eugene before his tragic death in August 2007. Eugene committed suicide by jumping from the window of the Radisson Hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota. Morgan explained on his band's website: "I used to think more about what the fans thought, but ultimately I wound up stunting myself creatively. The point of being a musician and writing music and being in a band is that I can write an optimistic-feeling, accessible song if I want. Even though it wasn't written about an optimistic experience, I opted to see a positive in the situation. Rather than my usual reaction, which would be to get all piss-y and moan-y about it." In our interview with Shaun Morgan, he told us that this song was written slightly before his brother's suicide. "It was about an attempt that he had made on his own life," Morgan explained. "The idea was to write a song that if I could play it to him, that it would make him feel better. And unfortunately I never got a chance to play it for him. So it was written just before, like a couple of weeks prior to him dying."

When we asked Shaun if he thought his brother might really take his own life, he replied: "I never thought that it was a serious attempt. I thought the first time that it was an accidental thing. So I don't think that I, in my mind, thought that it was something that would be repeated. I didn't at all think that he was serious about it. I just wanted to write something to let him know that I cared about him."

Take the light, and darken everything around me

Call the clowns and listen closely, I'm lost without you

Call your name every day when I feel so helpless
I'm fallen down but I'll rise above this, rise above this

Hate the mind, regrets are better left unspoken
For all we know, this void will grow
Everything's in vain, distressing you though it leaves me open
Feels so right, but I'll end this all before it gets me

Call your name every day, when I feel so helpless
I've fallen down (fallen down), but I'll rise above this, rise above this
Call your name everyday, when I seem so helpless
I've fallen down (fallen down), and I'll rise above this, rise above this doubt

I'll mend myself before it gets me
(I'll mend myself before it gets me)
I'll mend myself before it gets me
(I'll mend myself before it gets me)

Call your name every day, when I feel so helpless
I've fallen down but I'll rise above this, rise above this
Forty-eight ways to say that I'm feelin' helpless
I've falling down, falling down, but I'll rise above this, 

rise above this, rise above this, rise above this doubt

In 2012, Seether organized and headlined the Rise Above Fest, which took place September 3 in Gilford, New Hampshire. The festival, which also featured Buckcherry and Puddle of Mudd, raised money for the National Alliance of Mental Illness and helped bring the issue of suicide and depression - especially among young people - to the forefront.The song, and the festival are the band's way of sparking the discussion, as they're not comfortable preaching on the issue and are more likely to get the message through with their music. "I wanted something to live on," Morgan told us. "There's a tragedy, but I wanted at least to have his death mean something. So we started the festival and we had a great turnout and there was a lot of great stories from people. And so it was a pretty great day." The song's video deals with the tragedy of suicide by showing the effects a young man's death has on his surviving family members, ending with the number of the US National Suicide Helpline and a photo of Eugene. Morgan told Kerrang! magazine July 19, 2008: "I'm so proud of the video and the song's success. It's a brutal experience when you lose somebody like that, but you have to find a positive in everything. I hope this makes some kids realise the choices they make can crush a family and devastate the people they leave behind." 


This mornings devotion finds us in Genesis 391-3 looking at the life of Joseph and thinking about Joseph rising above the tragedies of his life and how we can do the same.

Have you ever been tempted to say, "God, this isn't fair!"?  I have. If you're ever tempted to think you have it bad, a brief glance at the life of Joseph will tend to put things in perspective. It will also point out how remarkably resilient this man was.  Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. But almost immediately, he rose to the top of the ladder in his new boss's household (Gen. 37:28; 39:6).  Then he was framed by his master's wife and sent to prison unjustly. But before too long, Joseph again had risen to the highest level possible. He ended up living in the warden's house instead of a prison cell (Gen. 39:20-23).  Joseph just seemed to bloom wherever he was planted, didn't he? In the face of unfair adversity, he had great favour and everything he put his hand to prospered. In the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 39, we find Joseph prospering and finding favour in his new circumstances in Egypt: In the very next verse, we find a key to Joseph's prosperity in what could have been a very negative situation.

Joseph didn't allow himself to become bitter against his new master. He didn't rebel against him. "He served him." We all need to learn the lesson of service to others. In fact, you will never be truly happy in life until you develop a lifestyle of serving the interests of others. Of course, this is a truth that is completely alien to our human flesh. It also runs counter to the dominant way of thinking in this country today. We're living in the age of "self-interest." Everything is "me, myself and I." The powerful tendency of the natural person is to crown self-interest king or queen. Yet God says that until we learn the lesson of service to others, we will never know true happiness. This is the paradox Joseph understood so well. It's a truth we find repeated throughout scripture and exemplified in the life of Jesus.

Look, for example, at Philippians, chapter 2: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:4-8). Jesus lived a life of service. He died a death of service. Even now in His resurrection, he lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). Certainly, the ultimate form of service you can render to any other person is to share Jesus with them. He is the only one who can change eternal destinies and bring peace and purpose in this life. When you introduce a person to Jesus, you're serving them in the most meaningful way possible. Joseph proved himself to be a loyal and diligent servant. Wherever he found himself, he served with excellence. Put the needs of others above your own, and you'll soon find yourself rising above adversity, too.

Another powerful lesson we learn from the life of Joseph is the importance of integrity. When Potiphar's wife set her sights upon Joseph, he could have indulged his flesh and bowed to the pressure. But he chose the path of honour instead. God can promote people of honour and integrity. But nothing cuts you off from the anointing and blessing of God as quickly as will sin. Unconfessed sin separates you from the power and presence of God. To rise above adversity you must, like Joseph, make the choice to flee sin. You must cultivate the strength of character that causes you to maintain your personal integrity when the pressure is on. Now, we tend to define "integrity" pretty narrowly. We usually think it means "keeping your word." In other words, being honest. It certainly carries that meaning but there is much more. When I use the word "integrity," I'm talking about adherence to the standard of the Bible. Whatever the Bible has to say on a given subject, that is the standard against which we must measure our thoughts, motives, and actions. I can assure you, in good times and bad, you're going to get plenty of opportunities to compromise your character. Joseph could have told himself: "You know, I do most of the things the Lord wants me to do. If I refuse the wife of my boss she could really make things hard for me. This one little breach of integrity won't hurt anything." If Joseph had been the kind of person who employed those types of self-serving rationalisations, he never would have risen out of slavery. God would not have been able to elevate him above adversity.

What's in a name? A lot, particularly in the Bible. People in Joseph's day attached great significance to the names they gave their children. That's why it's so enlightening to observe the names Joseph chose when ultimately, two sons were born to him: "And unto Joseph were born two sons…And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Gen. 41:50-52). The two names Joseph chose for his boys are interesting. Manasseh means "forgetting" and Ephraim means "fruitful." There is a clear message here. "Forgetting" comes before "fruitful." Before you can bear fruit in the kingdom of God, you're going to have to put the past behind you. Notice what Joseph said about Ephraim's name. He said he gave the boy that name, "for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." If you want to be fruitful in a difficult time if you want to rise above adversity and prosper you're going to have to put the past behind you. As we've seen, Joseph had plenty about which to be bitter, resentful, and unforgiving. Hated and rejected by his brothers, framed and imprisoned after doing the right thing, and betrayed by a fellow prisoner he had helped Joseph had ample cause to dwell on the hurts of the past. Yet he chose "forgetting." What did he choose to forget? Two things. According to the verses we just read, Joseph said he was forgetting: (1) "all my toil" and (2) "all my father's household"

This describes two distinct areas in which it is necessary to put the past behind us. The phrase "all my toil" refers to the hardships Joseph suffered. Life had delivered some pretty hard knocks to Joseph. He chose to put the injustices of the past out of mind instead of dwelling on them. We must do the same. If you don't put the hard places you've experienced out of mind, they can become an excuse for a mediocre life. They will become your excuse for never rising any higher than the status quo. I've seen far too many who have convinced themselves they cannot increase or be fruitful because life has simply been too hard for them. Where our past hardships are concerned, we need to take the words of Philippians 3:13-14 to heart: "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." You have a high calling in Christ Jesus. A wonderful destiny too great to be imagined. Don't let memories of past hardships rob you of that destiny.

The second type of thing Joseph chose to forget was "all his father's household." This is a clear reference to his brothers and the rejection he experienced at their hands. We all have relational hurts in our backgrounds. So, the second thing you must deal with in putting the past behind you is forgiving those who have hurt you. You must deal with any residual bitterness, resentment, or hate because these are spiritual cancers that will keep you from rising above difficult circumstances. Joseph certainly manifested an extraordinary ability to forgive: "And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore do not fear: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them" (Gen. 50:18-20).

The life of Joseph brings us some powerful lessons in rising above adversity. Cultivate service, integrity and the ability to put the past behind you and you'll find yourself rising above life's tragedies in even the most trying of situations. The next time you're tempted to say, "God, this isn't fair!" do a quick check of your life to make sure these attributes are yours. Then get ready to rise.