From Misery to Melody

           Songs can teach, encourage, even move us.  The right song can give us courage, like the time Darrell, the high-schooler, listened to “Standing Outside the Fire” until I felt brave enough to call a girl I thought I’d like to ask out.  But sometimes our hearts are just too heavy to turn to music.  The notes weigh heavy on our souls, so we sit in silence.  But in those times, God hears a special melody.

            The chorus of a song I like reads: “We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody. Beautiful, the mess we are, The honest cries of breaking hearts are better than a Hallelujah [sometimes].” I admit I wasn’t sure I liked this idea at first. I know God doesn’t take joy in my misery. But He does know the reality of all my pain. God’s joy isn’t in my suffering, it is in His opportunity to help me when I hurt. After all, His “power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9).

            He also “hears a melody” as He is causing everything to “work together for good” for His children. (Romans 8:28). God knows there’s trouble in this world. He felt it all for Himself (Hebrews 12:2). But He watches every day as our tragedies become anchors of strength in our lives. He sees us as our heartbreaks give us wisdom and patience that help us aid another person when they feel the same pain we once felt. And He knows that all these things will turn out alright. Dr. Cecil May recently wrote that God’s providential care is always present, though it isn’t always what we expect, on our time table, and sometimes only in eternity. 

My greatest confidence in adversity is gleaned from Paul’s inspired words in Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” All of our pain is only for a little while, and rest is a quickly approaching reality.

----Darrell Powell