When I was a little girl, I can remember sneaking over to my parent’s secret stash of records (yes records). I would pull the record out of the cover, and delicately place it on the spindle. As I got older, I was given a radio and tape player combo. It was one of my prized possessions, and every moment I had, I would sit and listen to the radio and record clips to playback later. My favorite artist at that time was Amy Grant. “Father’s Eyes” was my all-time favorite.
I never lost this passion for music. Though I am not blessed with a voice that moves people to tears (unless tears of pain), I simply cannot get enough of music. It is the same way with God’s Word. I can read the Bible over and over again, and it’s never enough. I have this undying thirst to quench.
I always tell people that faith and music was what I had going for me as a child. Oddly enough, I can look back on the past year and see that most of this year was focused on God, His Word, and music. I have dabbled in music and video editing, participated in music promotions, and even written some music. But as I messed around in the world of music, my heart was still with my Best Friend.
The great thing is that although my singing is not appealing to many, God loves to hear me sing; He loves to hear us all sing. This might be a bit surprising to some people who feel that we must walk before God in a conservative manner, pretending to be something we are not. I’m sorry, but who wears a tie that is that straight? Who stands so perfectly? No one.
God doesn’t want a show; He wants our heart. You can give Him that wearing flip-flops and a stained shirt. Our best isn’t the most expensive outfit we have in our closet, nor is it what society has labeled at the top of the list. Our best is all of us, our whole being. And before you ask, no, you cannot haggle to get a different deal with a more fair percentage. This percentage is perfectly fair.
Yesterday was a tough day for me. I started to get the sense of being overwhelmed. This feeling didn’t last very long. I could feel it coming, and I acted quickly. When storms come your way, when things seem to pile up, or when you just need a moment to breathe, where do you go? What do you do? Do you take a walk? I do at times. Do you call a friend? I do at times. Do you take a nap? There are times I only wish I could. Yesterday, I wanted to scream. I wanted to stomp on the floor like a little child who did not get her way; however, I didn’t.
When we don’t get what we want, when things are not what we planned, we can’t act like a 2-year-old and think it will get better. We need to understand that God has better things planned that our human minds cannot even fathom. We also need to keep ourselves in check. Even when things seem so bad, I just turn my head to the left or the right, and I see someone who has it worse. We all have something we are going through– it is how we react to the situation(s) that show our true colors. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are all very blessed.
So when I felt myself getting overwhelmed, I put on my own private jam session. I don’t have the records to sneak, nor do I have my old radio and tape player combo. Today we have iTunes. Click, click, and there it is with no skipping and no stopping. And as the music began, I looked upward and sang. I sang loud. Yes, God doesn’t need us to sing loud, but I wanted to let Him know that I wanted nothing more than to sing to Him at that very moment. I wanted to thank Him for everything. I have so much to be thankful for, so much that I could sing praises 24 hours a day and it wouldn’t be enough.
Psalm 150, the Psalm of Praise, comes to mind. Verse 6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” [NASB].
Tania Gutekunst 