When Life Was A Lyric Away
Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash
I’ve been singing every Luther song available to me since watching his documentary. Did you watch? If so, you understand my practice. If not, what are you waiting on? But seriously, check it out. While driving and holding my own private concert in the car, I laughed thinking about how I knew every lyric, partly since the lyrics were provided either inside or on the back of the album cover. I studied those lyrics so I could sing along with precision. If someone in my friend group on the block sang wrong, we could always fact find on the album. This same practice was extended to our textbooks. The answers were literally at the rear of the book and we were conditioned to work our hardest to refrain from looking. I can recall attempting a problem in class and the teacher instructing us to turn our focus to the back of the book for the answer. I suppose as one ages, you spend time making sense of life, while holding fast to the simplicity of one’s youth. How I long for the “lyrics and answers” to life. A methodology to engage for direction, affirmation, relief and clarity. And just like that, the Holy Spirit reminded me that we have such as our disposal. God’s Holy Word.
Chocked with direction, affirmation, relief, clarity and so much more, we have hard copies, within an app, on the radio, the ability to play in our car, just about anywhere and anytime – and yet we sometimes move through life, operating beneath our privilege, failing to access what has been granted to us. Psalm 37:23-24 reads, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” To God be the Glory! Even when we move differently than what God desires, there lies a second chance. As we connect ourselves regularly to God’s Word, we gain the blessing of instruction for our good; an opportunity to trace His hand more intentionally in our daily walk. It’s like we have the “lyrics and answers” available to us as we navigate life. To be sure, God has a way of bringing us exactly what we need, when we need it, but only as we seek.
I want to be as confident in my knowledge of God’s Word as I am to let’s see, the song “Never Too Much.” How might I get there? I must study it, just like I did those lyrics to reach the answer to what I’m in search of. As we continue to determine who we are or who we want to be in this new year the Lord has allowed us to enter, may we remember that we’ve got what is needed.