My wife Sandy watches some kids at our house, and I love to play with them almost every day. I make up silly songs like: ‘Hey everybody, what’da ya say, it’s gonna be a wonderful day. Oh yeah?? And the kids start jiving and smiling. They can’t help it! The song is in them!
I believe that God has put a song in all of our hearts. We’re born with his song in us!
But life has a way of taking our song. We get discouraged. We get stressed. One day we wake up and we’re not singing anymore. We’re not happy anymore. Life’s a drag. The joy is gone.
I want to encourage you’DON’T LOSE YOUR SONG! The Bible says that we are to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord, always being thankful! (See Ephesians 5:19-20) God isn’t happy when we’re miserable. God is most glorified when we are most happy in him!
Where did we get the idea that to be spiritual means that you’re really serious and really burdened and really uptight all the time? Sure, we need to care. We need to do something about all the problems in the world, but God never asked us to go through life like we were baptized in prune juice.
The Bible is full of commands like ‘Delight yourself in the Lord! Rejoice in the Lord! Be thankful!? We’re commanded to love mercy not just do it. God wants us to give cheerfully not just to give.
In Luke 1-2 we find the Christmas story. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary. After some initial shock and fear, Mary breaks out into song. Her song is in chapter 1 beginning in verse 46. Mary’s Song is one of four songs that Luke records in these first two chapters. There’s Mary’s Song, Zechariah’s Song, the angels? Song to the shepherds, and Simeon’s Song, when he met baby Jesus at the Temple. And all four Songs are about Christmas ‘God the Son coming in the flesh as a vulnerable human baby.
If you look at it carefully, Mary shows us how to not lose our song. Mary sings in the good times (1:46-49). She sings in the tough times (1:34-40. And she sings about God’s goodness (1:49-55).
Imagine the stress Mary must have faced. Her fianc? Joseph is ready to divorce her because he thinks she had sex with somebody else. And what do her parents think? What do her brothers and sisters think? They probably thought she was crazy! They thought she was lying!
Yet she didn’t lose her song!
Now let’s be clear. There’s a time to cry and a time to mourn. But I’m talking about the dominate theme of our life. Are we negative and critical and unhappy? Are we always singing a dirge? God empowers us to sing even in the tough times.
Jesus shows us that beneath and above all the bad ‘is the good. This world is not an accident. You are not an accident. At the heart of the universe is a song ‘a song of salvation; a song of joy. And nothing can take your song!
Because God put it there and he wants you to sing it!
Greg Henneman is pastor of Clarkston Community Church, 6300 Clarkston Road. 248-625-1323.