The proof of what we believe isn’t in the words we speak, but in the choices we make. I can know truth, but not live in the truth. I can claim to believe the truth, but let my actions and attitude contradict it. I can even quote the truth, but be meditating on thoughts which oppose it.
How can we avoid this conflict? By singing.
Singing takes truth to another level. A soul level. Singing takes the truth we know and makes it bloom in our spirits. It decorates the space around us until we feel like we’ve been sitting in the midst of beauty. It takes the words we’ve read and been inspired by, and brings them to life, in us. Singing convinces the heart of what the spirit knows is truth. It merges the soul and spirit until they begin to not only think, but act, like one.
I know this because God’s grace has put a song in my heart that refuses to be quieted, and I I’ve learned to tune into it in everything I do. Whether it’s dishes or laundry, praying or planning, God has taught my heart to sing.
What began as a means of survival has become a way of life for me. Once upon a time, I sang to avoid my own, awful thoughts. Now I sing because I know there is more to life than avoidance. I want to live in the full place, the place that oozes with love, joy, peace, and grace. That place is accessed through the gates of praise.
There is a song I’ve heard that sings of this truth: “Sometimes you gotta sing your way into the truth…” Many days, when I don’t know what else to sing, I start with this. Just the act of commanding your heart to sing taps the well of truth within, and as we sing, the living waters will inevitably begin to flow forth in more song. Singing, by nature, births the song. When I determine to sing, truth is determined to flow.
When things feel hard and I’m tilting toward doubt, fear, and being overwhelmed, I have learned to just start singing. It reminds me of what Dory’s parents (Finding Nemo/Finding Dory) taught her to do when they didn’t know how else to help her: “Just keep swimming.” They knew that, if all else failed, swimming was a part of who she was. It was the most natural thing she could do, and if she just did that one thing, it would eventually carry her through.
So I just keep singing. Because Scripture tells me that it’s a natural part of who I am. I’ve been made in the image of God, and when I look at Who He is, I can’t help but sing. And when I sing, joy and confidence begin to flow. And when joy and confidence begin to flow, I rejoice in the truth, rather than doubt it. I am able to live in it, rather than deny it.
“And the Lord’s ransomed ones will return with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away.” Isaiah 35:10
I encourage you to open your Bible today and look up the many verses about singing. And I pray that you will begin to sing the song God has placed in your heart. May it carry you, the way it has carried me, straight into the truth that sets us free.
She Dances Over Graves 