"Converse"ations with Meg
The Magic of Music
Music can be a powerful thing, it can be relaxing, make you feel amped up, it can be attached to memories or can create emotions and bring tears to your eyes. Music is magic, and because of that, I firmly believe music can be used to draw ourselves and others closer to Christ. For those of you who don’t know, Bailey and I sing in our choir at church. We devote Wednesday nights to gather and learn new music to lead our church members on Sunday morning. It is not a glamourous ministry, but we adore it! We feel it is important because we see the impact music and songs have on our congregation, we see people worship and it’s so powerful.
Sunday, our pastor, Pastor David, encouraged us to make a playlist titled “music for the dip.” We have been focusing on Habakkuk on Sunday mornings, looking at the story of this man who cried out in almost anger to God, who then began to understand God and his plan, and finally could not help but praise God for all the good things he has done and will continue to do. Our pastor does not shy away from the fact that like Habakkuk, we will all experience pain and trials, we will all be at some point in a “dip” of our relationship with Christ, but we have to keep pressing on in faith and trust. So, how do we do this, because let’s be honest, it’s much easier to say or type then to actually do.
First, if you are stuck in that dip it helps to reflect and remember all of the times God has been faithful. Maybe make a prayer journal so you can go back and mark the prayers that have turned to praises, or maybe write down some stories that remind you of the faithfulness of Christ. We were encouraged to do this on Sunday, and so many examples came flooding to me, things in my life or people I knew. For me, I was so reminded in my life of faithfulness. About three years ago, I was in a funk and just so incredibly frustrated with how God had chosen to write my story. I had worked so hard to lose weight, and in my mind, that is why I wasn’t married. In my mind, when I lost weight, I would meet someone and get married, have children, and live happily ever after. Well, I lost the weight, and the rest had not fallen into place. I was frustrated, annoyed, embarrassed, felt like I was not good enough, so many emotions. I cried out to God and was just angry, he began to show me how impactful my life and my story is to those around me. He began to show me how full my life is, and how much joy I can get from encouraging and investing in lives for others working towards health goals. He reminded me in such a vivid way that my life serves an impactful and amazing purpose to a lot of people, and I began to find fulfillment and contentment in that. That is faithfulness, being taken from a place of anger to a place of joy and contentment, it still just overwhelms me.
Second, music. Worship music can bring tears to my eyes when I am blow drying my hair or driving down the road. Use the magic of music to worship and praise, even when you are in that dip and just don’t feel like it. A few of my favorite, go to songs are “What a beautiful name” by Hillsong Worship, “Goodness of God” by Bethel Music, “In Christ Alone” by the Getty’s, and “Call on Jesus” by Nicole C. Mullen. Some of these are older, but goodness, they never lose their power. Create a list of songs to help you refocus your mind so you can remember the faithfulness and goodness of God. In reality, some days it will be so hard to overcome the pain or sadness you feel, but Christ can work even in those times or those days. Let him.
