sing

I love being a dad. I mean, I absolutely love it. Granted, there are a few parts of parenting that aren’t much fun. When your child is very young, you have to do terribly nasty things like change poopy diapers. (I never imagined that I would ever use the word “poopy” in a blog post…I feel strangely proud.) There are nights when you’re required to get up in the middle of the night to clean up after an upset stomach finds relief…not fun. Neither is it enjoyable to deal with the drama that often follows when you tell a four-year-old, “No.” Doling out discipline is torturous. I now understand what my parents meant when they said absurd things like, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” When my dad said something like that I always wanted to knowingly nod my head and reply, “I understand. Don’t put yourself through it.” Fortunately, even as a child I had a modicum of wisdom that helped me resist the urge to say something that would surely have caused me even greater pain that I was about to endure. On top of these things, I cringe in fear when I think of the horrors that await me as a future dad of teenage girls, but I digress.

While it’s true that there are difficult, messy, and painful responsibilities that I have to tend to as a dad, the weight of those things is nothing compared to the joy that I find. Nothing this world has to offer can compare to those moments when one of my girls walks up to me and gives me a kiss, not because she wants something from me, but just because she loves me. Deep pleasure wells up inside my heart when I hear my girls laughing and giggling as they play. My soul feels warm when my girls want to cuddle with me on the sofa as the day is winding down. My life as a dad is absolutely filled with joy.

One of the greatest of these joys is when my daughters and I share our love of music. My girls love to sing and dance. In our house, it is not uncommon to be treated to an impromptu dance recital or a spontaneous vocal performance filled with songs, some of which are recognizable and others that are born out of the moment. I love to hear my girls sing. When we are driving in the car, I love to crank up one of our favorite songs and we sing together at the top of our lungs. The notes aren’t always in tune (for you American Idol fans, “That was a little pitchy, dog.”), but I don’t care. When my little girls sing, Daddy’s heart melts.

I believe that when we sing to our God and willingly lavish our love on Him He is pleased. As our Heavenly Father, His love for us knows no bounds and His heart is filled with joy when He hears his children sing. Listen to just a little of what the Bible says about singing to the Lord.

1 Chronicles 16:23–25 (ESV) - Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.

Psalm 13:6 (ESV) - I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 59:16–17 (ESV) - But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

Psalm 95:1–3 (ESV) - Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Isaiah 5:1 (ESV) - Let me sing for my beloved my love song…

Zechariah 2:10 (ESV) - Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

This is just a tiny sampling of literally hundreds of verses that tell us to sing to our God. Don’t let it be mere cognitive knowledge. Let it sink into your heart and put it into action. Sing to Him! Let your heart overflow with love! Don’t hold back! Don’t let anything stop you! You’re singing for an audience of one, and He doesn’t care if it’s “pitchy.” Your song of love for Him brings joy beyond measure to His heart. So, open your mouth wide, throw your shoulders back, and sing with all the intensity you can muster! Your Father will love it.

be still

Have you ever had one of those crazy days where it just seems like life goes haywire? Have you ever had one of those days where you just didn’t know if you could handle all the stress, all the uncertainty, or all the pain? Have you ever had one of those days where no matter how hard you struggled you just seemed to sink deeper into the quagmire? Maybe that day turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years and you’re still fighting.

We try so hard to fix ourselves and to manage our circumstances. It's the American way. That's why we love John Wayne, Rambo, and Wyatt Earp so much. (I'm pretty sure I've never used those names in the same sentence before.) We live with a suicidal love affair with self reliance. We subsist in the illusion of control, when we really have no control over anything that really matters. You've probably witnessed the illusion of control evaporate in a person's life after a single conversation with a doctor who says the dreaded "c" word - cancer. Or maybe the illusion of control was shattered by a financial disaster. Or maybe it was destroyed by the death of a loved one. However it happened, if you have lived on the face of this earth for very long, it has happened. And yet, we continue in our insistence that we are self-sufficient. We say things like:

• "I don't need anybody else."
• "I can handle it." 
• "I just need to try harder."
• "I'll just pick myself up by the bootstraps and move on."

If that paints a picture of where you find yourself today, I think the Lord has something to say to you. Stop. Stop trying to fix things in your own strength and wisdom. Stop worrying about things that are out of your control. Stop struggling so hard to find freedom. Stop tying yourself up in knots wondering if He could possibly still love you after you've let Him down for the umpteenth time. Stop living in fear of the unknown, or of failure, or of being alone, or of being unloved and unwanted. Stop trying to earn His affections. Stop working so hard to change your heart...you can't.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Slow down. Quiet your heart. Know that He is God. Believe that He is more than powerful enough to take care of you and those whom you love. When the disciples were afraid for their lives in the midst of a storm, Jesus simply said, "Be still," and the wind and the waves obeyed Him. He calmed the tempest in an instant and at any moment He can silence the storm in your life. If He hasn't silenced the storm, then maybe He's trying to teach you something through it. Maybe He's trying to develop something eternal through temporary circumstances. Maybe He's been trying to talk to you, but you've been so busy "fighting the good fight" that you haven't heard a thing He's been saying. Slow down enough to hear the voice of your Creator and trust Him. He knows where you are, He knows what He’s doing, He loves you, and He is God. That, my friend, is a powerful combination.

three dark days

Have you ever thought about how the disciples must have felt during the three days and three nights when Jesus’ lifeless body was lying in a cold, dark tomb guarded by Roman soldiers? All of their dreams for a better future had been tied to this man and now he was dead…and so were their dreams. All the talk about who would be the greatest in the kingdom seemed silly now. All the miracles that had been performed seemed pointless. All the hope was now hollow. The joy of knowing Jesus had evaporated. Jesus had told them repeatedly that he was going to rise from the dead on the third day, but they never understood it. Perhaps it was because they were so busy denying that he would die in the first place. Regardless, they lived a grim existence devoid of hope for three days and three nights.

Like the disciples, you may find yourself in a place filled with darkness and despair. Maybe it was a conversation with your doctor and the news was not good. Maybe the one person you thought you could trust has thrust the knife of betrayal deep into your back and twisted it for good measure. Maybe your facing a mountain of financial problems so large that it seems an exercise in futility to attempt to scale it. Maybe death has come knocking at your door leaving a house that is all too quiet and left you wondering why you didn't say all the things you wanted to say. Your joy may have vanished like a morning fog that’s been burned away by the midday sun. Depression and anxiety may have descended upon you like a dark, foreboding cloud. Like the disciples, it may seem that any expectation for a brighter tomorrow has melted away and evaporated like an ice cube on the sidewalk on a sweltering summer day.

The good news is that the disciples' story didn't end there. The three days of pain, disillusionment, and confusion that the disciples endured must have seemed like an eternity…but then came Sunday. Jesus came back to life and so did their joy, their hope, and their future. Even when we walk through the valley of despair, hope is still alive because Jesus is alive. No matter what sorrows may befall us in this life, we gain strength knowing that it is only temporary and we are not forsaken. Hold on to Jesus. He will not leave you alone.