There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. Hosea 2: 15 

When was the last time you sang a song of joy?  I don’t mean singing along with a worship band.  I’m talking about the kind that erupts out of a joyful spirit.  It could have been years ago.  Let me ask you, did you sing as a kid?  Can you remember what it felt like to skip down the road? “That child is long gone,” you might say. 

Adult life can remove us from carefree days of childhood. Bubbling joy is a distant memory. We can’t imagine ever feeling that way again. Sometimes we’re trapped by the existence of our own choosing. In our youth, we made poor choices and now we face long-term consequences. Perhaps there were warning signs, perhaps not. 

I know a few women who say that the man they married started changing the day after their wedding. He slowly became a stranger. They can’t imagine how their soul will survive a lifetime of matrimony.  We can also feel trapped by things that are out of our control. An accident leaves us in a wheelchair. Our child is diagnosed with leukemia. We are called upon to care for an aging parent with Alzheimer’s. Will we ever feel like singing again? Even faintly?  We would say no. We believe the song has died. 

God is reaching out to His children in their silence. No mistake is too severe for His mercy. And, there is no twist of fate. God is sovereign and knew the elements of our story long before we lived our life. No tragedy is beyond redemptive grace. His love is for any who no longer know how to sing. He says, “I see you! I’m here. I am where your joy is!” He wants to set our souls free from the bars of despair. 

The way to abounding joy is to behold something more beautiful than anything in this world.  And we’re invited to do so in the face of Jesus.  He invites us to gaze upon His beauty and discover all the love in His eyes.  Soulful music will always be the result. 

You are the song. Amen