Good morning…and greetings in the name of the One who restores us, Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a delightful winter’s day in the Kingdom – a great day to thank God for the joy of being alive and able to look out the windows and see His creation! I trust that God has been at work in your life this week…bringing ‘light’ into every corner. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to manifest His goodness to you in tangible ways.
A question(s) that counsellors often asked people who were struggling with life was…”when did you stop singing? when did you lose your song?” – I was thinking of that when I was reading in Psalms today. In Psalm 137, the children of Israel were in captivity and feeling a lot depressed…so much so that they hung up their harps on the willow trees and stopped singing about their God. They just couldn’t find a reason or the desire to sing praise to God – life was simply too difficult. Their enemies taunted them and asked why they didn’t sing anymore…they even wanted to hear the music and songs about the Hebrew God. Of course, the Israelites got angry and made a vow…may I never make music or sing a song if I fail to bring honor to my home.
Into this context comes one of our favourite promises from God…Jeremiah 29:11 – I’ve got plans for you! However they won’t come into effect until you find your song again, until you start living the life of faith, until you find your way back to me, until you seek me and ask for my help…then says God – I will restore you! The Israelites had to learn to live as “free people” even though they were in captivity.
As I ponder this, God is reminding me to not let my discouragement or difficulty or depression…define me or keep me locked up. I have a sense that God is challenging me to get my song back…to get my “wow!” back…to praise and worship even when it hurts and even if it doesn’t make sense.My song this morning is: If you got pain, He’s a pain taker – If you are lost, He’s a way maker – If you freedom or saving, He’s he prison shaking Saviour – If you got chains, He’s a chain breaker.
What about you this morning…have you stopped singing? have you hung your ‘harp on the willow tree’? … come on now…no one else can ‘sing’ your praises to God!