Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.
Ephesians 5: 19-20
I started attending a new church a little over a year ago, when I was at a discouraging point in my life, and it’s been life changing. Several years ago, my old church of 16 years fell apart when my pastor died of cancer. A new church I grew to love was devastated when the young pastor committed suicide. I stopped attending church for a period of time and had my own devotional time on Sunday mornings, thinking it was enough.
During my hiatus from church, my youngest daughter and her husband starting attending a new church and invited me to go with them. I made excuse after excuse not to go. With all the drama that took place in my previous two churches, I felt I wasn’t ready for more.
In the meantime, my son-in-law started playing electric guitar on the worship team at the church they were attending. I had prayed for about 7 or 8 years that he would use his musical talent for God and ministry, so this was an incredible God moment for me. God had answered my prayers!
I reluctantly went to church to hear the worship team. I figured I would go just once but God had other plans. I walked into the sanctuary the first Sunday not knowing what to expect. It was a much larger church than any I had attended in the past, and I was certain I wouldn’t feel at home there. The opposite was true. I felt welcome from the start.
When the worship team started to play, I felt old emotions stirring inside that were buried somewhere beneath the unrelenting stress of the past several years. It felt like my heart was alive again and I could sense the Holy Spirit moving. Every time I heard my son-in-law’s electric guitar, it was a reminder that God does answer prayer and we should never give up praying for loved ones, even if it takes years or a lifetime. We can’t see what God is doing behind the scenes when we feel like our prayers are going no higher than the ceiling.
The words and music stayed with me long after I left the church that day. I started a playlist at home and downloaded the songs from the worship service to listen to as I go about my daily routine. Music holds such power to change emotions. It’s nearly impossible to feel down and out when you’re being inspired by praise music. I’m still attending that church and continuing to add songs to my playlist at home.
As I was reading my Bible this morning, Ephesians 5: 19-20 stood out to me. What does it mean to make music in our hearts to the Lord? I believe the second part of the verse holds the answer. ” Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.”
No matter what we are going through, there’s plenty of reasons to give thanks to God. It may be a sunrise or a stunning sunset. It might be a praise song that fills our hearts with joy or a Bible verse rich with promise. It may be a baby smiling or a home cooked meal. There’s always a reason to sing and make music in our hearts. God’s blessings are plentiful and abundant.
Things in my personal life may be overwhelming at times, but each day the blessings outweigh my troubles. It’s not even noon and I’ve already experienced abundant blessings. The beautiful weather made it possible for me to bring my laptop outdoors and work this morning, surrounded by the sights and sounds of the mountain. A gentle summer breeze is blowing, the scent from my lavender plants is heavenly, hummingbirds are flitting about next to me, a little fawn stopped by to nibble on some leaves, and I’m witnessing the wonder of a mother bird feeding her babies in a nest nearby.
The blessing of working from home in my outdoor “mountain office” today is enough to make me sing and make music in my heart to God. My health issues and struggles may persist, but it would be much more difficult if I had to commute to work and spend my day in a stuffy office building. I will continue to sing and praise God with all my heart, because every day my blessings are many more than I can count.
Are you feeling discouraged or hopeless today? Pause and count your blessings. Put on some praise music and sing your heart out to God. You may find it’s just what you need to fill your heart with joy and give you the hope and courage to get through the day.
