Music speaks to me. It affects my thoughts and feelings. The beat and rhythm of music works into the core of my physical being. It joins with the beat of my heart, the ebb and flow of my breathing, the blink of my eyes and becomes a part of me.
But it’s more than that. Music speaks to my soul. The melody winds itself around my heart and travels into the depths of my being. It intertwines with my emotions and my thoughts and can bring calm, motivate, renew, and inspire me.
I am so thankful that God created music for our world….for me. The Creator of the universe sings through His creation. I hear Him in the coos of a morning dove as the sun gently dispels the darkness, the rhythm of the waves as by pound against the sand, the whistle of the wind through the trees and the rumbling of the thunder on a stormy night and the gentle pattering of the rain on the window. I hear Him in a baby’s first laugh and a child’s first song, a purring kitten and a roaring lion. The universal language of music plays a beautiful symphony through all of His creation.
Psalms 98:8 “Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy.”
Many times music leads me to the throne of God and draws me into His presence. I know that there have many times that God has chosen to speak to me through a song because He knows that music causes me to listen with my heart.
Some of the most touching memories in my life are directly tied to music. As a very small child, I remember being in church and my mom following the words in the hymnal for me so I could learn to read the music. I thought Holy, Holy, Holy was the most beautiful song I had ever heard. When my first grandparent went to be with the Lord, the words “When we’ve been there 10,000 years” took on a whole new meaning. As time went on, the words to Victory in Jesus and It is Well with my Soul began to take on more meaning to me. One night in February when I was 8 and a half years old, we had a revival preacher who spoke and sang his sermon. God drew me to Himself that night and as the congregation sang “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling oh sinner, come home”, that is exactly what I did. I gave my life to Jesus Christ and came home to my forever family of God. I always wondered how I could explain the vastness of God’s love for me and then this song “The Love of God” came into my life. One verse finally gave me the words I needed, “Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made. Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky”. And in this new season of my life, a new set of lyrics is speaking of my life as a retired educator trying to listen intently and be completely obedient to God’s direction, “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior”.
I treasure these songs in my heart and have a list in my journal now that grows and grows. I could probably write a book just about songs of the my faith and how they have been such a vital part of seasons of my life, but I think I am going to let my readers and friends do that.
Please comment either here on my blog or on my Facebook page with the link below. Share a song title or a phrase and give me the story of what makes these words or this song special to you. Of course, if I decide to compile it into an actual book, I will ask your permission before I use it.
