God Gave Me a Song
“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
“There is a Father who will hold me until I’m better, help me until I can live with the hurt, and who won’t go to sleep when I’m afraid of waking up and seeing the dark. Ever.”
Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment
I read a devotional recently based on Zephaniah 3:17 which highlighted something I had never really thought about before: our heavenly Father sings to us. He celebrates us with songs of joy. And when we are afraid or hurting, He holds us in His arms like a parent comforting a child and quiets us with His love. He keeps watch through the night so we can rest in His loving care. I have found great comfort in this thought lately. When I am lying in bed trying to keep my anxious thoughts at bay, I picture my heavenly Father saying, “Hush, my child” while He softly sings me to sleep.
We must all take the time to let our heavenly Father comfort us. We cannot share His love and comfort with others unless we first receive it ourselves. Only when we truly know the scope of His power to rescue us, heal our hurts, and calm our fears can we fully proclaim His saving power to others. He will stop at nothing to reach His lost children. He is mighty and powerful, and He will save us. He has called us by name. We are His.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1 ESV
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid;
Isaiah 12:2 ESV
for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
The Lord is our strength and our song. He has rescued us and saved us. He wants us to rest in that comfort, and He wants us to trust Him with our lives. When His melody rings in our heart, it transforms us. We are healed and we are set free from guilt, pain, worry, and fear. Those noisy thoughts no longer scream for our attention. Instead, we hear the beautiful song of our loving Savior, renewing us from the inside out and strengthening us to live for Him. Soon we begin singing His song, too.
“Trust Me and don’t be afraid, for I am your Strength and Song. Do not let fear dissipate your energy. Instead, invest your energy in trusting Me and singing My Song.”
Sarah Young, Life in His Presence
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”
2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT
When others notice our new tune, we can share what God has done for us. Free of the fear and pain that kept us in darkness, we begin to see our circumstances in a new light. We learn to share God’s love and comfort with others who are facing the same hurts. We begin to view our life story as God does. He prepares us for the work He has for us to do, and sometimes that means facing hardships. But with God’s song in our hearts, we find that everything begins to make sense. His joyful song gives us the strength we need to persevere. We may even see that because of, rather than in spite of, our struggles, we are perfectly equipped to help the people God places in our path. It all begins with letting God love us. Then we can love others. And we can sing His song to them.
“We love each other because he loved us first.”
1 John 4:19 NLT
“And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.”
1 John 4:13 NLT
Not only does God give us His song, but He gives us His power. The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of every believer, empowering us to live for Him and do His will. I think sometimes we forget that. We focus on what we ourselves can accomplish, and we get scared. We feel inadequate. But that’s by design. God wants us to show His glory to the world, so He will purposely give us tasks that we are incapable of completing on our own. He wants us to rely on Him and on His power inside us. Just as we need to practice singing His song, we need to practice relying on His power every day. We need to let Him take us out of our comfort zone. If we never stretch our faith, it will never grow. I have found that when I come to God expecting Him to blow my mind, He usually does! And that makes me want to sing His song to the world!
“God’s presence in our life is proof that we really belong to him. He also gives us the power to love. . . . Rely on that power as you reach out to others. As you do so, you will gain confidence. . . . God’s love is the source of all human love, and it spreads like fire.”
Chronological Life Application Study Bible
This week’s Scripture passages focus on God’s comfort, strength, and power, and they remind us to share His love and His song with the world. I have also included a video below of the song that inspired this week’s post: “God Gave Me a Song” by the choir of Texas Bible College. As you watch their powerful performance, be inspired to share the song God gave you. You never know how many lives may be touched because you had the courage to sing!
“Do you think God would ask you to do something that you and he together couldn’t handle? Don’t let your lack of resources blind you to God’s power.”
Chronological Life Application Study Bible
References:
- Chronological Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.
- “God Gave Me a Song | Texas Bible College Live.” YouTube, uploaded by Texas Bible College, 27 February 2019, https://youtu.be/hi1ioZeRi8k.
- “Lauren Daigle – Rescue (Lyrics Video The Chosen’s Mary Magdalene).” YouTube, uploaded by Heaven, 18 April 2020, https://youtu.be/Zf8BBNlyapo.
- Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. J. Countryman, 2000.
- Young, Sarah. Life in His Presence: A Jesus Calling Guided Journal. Thomas Nelson, 2020.
Images:
- Guitar Featured image by Tehzeeb Kazmi from Pixabay
- Father and Baby image by StockSnap from Pixabay
- Helping Hands image by Jeff Kingma from Pixabay (edited by me)
- Fire Heart image by Gloria Williams from Pixabay
- Heart Hands image by Gloria Williams from Pixabay (edited by me)
About The Author
Christa
My vision for Wondertakings was to create a devotional blog for "nerdy" Christians like me. I do believe, as Socrates said, that wisdom begins in wonder. So I love to read or watch anything that inspires wonder and figure out what I can learn from it. I view it all through a Christian lens. I believe that God can and does speak through many sources in many ways, even if those speaking are not aware of it. I am not an expert in theology or religious studies. My goal with this blog is simply to share what I've learned as a fellow student and sinner in the Christian walk. My hope and my prayer is that by doing so I may be able to help someone else. In Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT), we are told: "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives. . . ." So in the words of Moses (and Spock), live long and prosper, my friends!