Sing For Joy
The sun was shining, the wind was in my hair, and I was listening to a favourite tune… what could go wrong?
Reference: v.1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! (TNIV Bible)
Explore: I’m not one to get embarrassed easily, but the other day I must admit that I blushed heavily. It was a beautiful afternoon as I was driving home from work, so I had all the windows down in my car. I was listening to music from my iPod, but because I didn’t have a connector into my car stereo, I was just listening through my headphones. One of my favourite songs, “Here In Your Eyes”, came on from a band of Christian guys from Sydney called New Empire. I love this song and started singing it at the top of my voice. The sun was shining, the wind was in my hair, and I was listening to a favourite tune… what could go wrong? I was so enjoying my happy place that I didn’t realise I’d stopped at a set of red lights. It suddenly dawned on me that my windows were down, I was singing at the top of my voice, and no one could hear the music except for me! In my peripheral vision I noticed a car stopped beside me. I said a little prayer that it was a new car and the driver had all the windows up with the air conditioning on. I looked to the left only to see a guy sitting in an old Ford Falcon 500 with the windows down smirking at me! I was SO embarrassed. I then had to sit, for what felt like the longest 30 seconds of my life, praying to God that I would give Him my first born son if He just miraculously made the lights turn green!!
Application: Now I look back at that moment I wonder why I was so embarrassed. Sure, my singing voice is not something that should be shared with strangers, but I was just expressing a joyous time in my life. So often we hold back on our emotions so that we seem to be more socially acceptable. When God asks us to sing to Him, He instructs us to ‘sing for joy’. I don’t think this singing is pitch perfect, well timed, or filled with harmonies… it’s a song that is from the heart. When it comes to worshipping God, may we not be as self-conscious as I was in my car, but be willing to sing for joy no matter what anyone else thinks.
Prayer: Lord, you have given us everything. May we never hold back on our worship of you. Amen.
How can you add some singing for joy into your day?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.
1 comment:
Hey Linda I am sure your singing sounded a whole lot better than the loud pumping stuff we hear from some cars these days. Sing it again.