God Gave Me a Song!

May 1, 2013

" A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." - Proverbs 15:13

Dear Friend,


All of my life I have been a pretty serious person.  I used to joke that, "I only laugh when it is seriously funny."  However, in the midst of the many trials and challenges, I can honestly say that I have always had a song in my heart.  Different songs for different times and situations.  Yet, always a song.  Many years ago in a choir I participated in we sang a song entitled, "God Gave Me a Song."  The writer penned:

                               God gave me a song, that the angels could not
                               sing,  I've been washed in the blood of the crucified one.
                               I've been redeemed...Sometimes when I am feeling low
                               no one to care, no place to go.  My Father is rich in houses
                               and lands, he carries the power of the world in His hands,"

I have not thought about the song in years.  However, as the Holy Spirit has brought it to my remembrance, the key thought is that God gave me a song!  The Lord has and continues to personalize my experience.  He alone makes my heart merry and lifts me when I feel low.  Sorrows of the heart can and do break the spirits of even the strongest Christians.  I have learned that sometimes the sad countenance we see on the faces of believers are not there by choice (I have been accused of looking mean - I don't "mean to) Truth is, I have been broken more times than I can count.  Yet, the pain, the strain, the mean or sad look did not negate the joy in my heart.  I figured I was safe in the sanctuary, in the house of God to remove the mask and let my pain show because I had no other place to be transparent.

Why am I sharing this here?  Well, "judgment does begin at the House of God."  Yet, mercy and grace and forgiveness and support must also be there.  We must consider the fallen
and the wounded and know that sometimes they come wrapped in neat packages and sometimes they present strong but may be treading water too. 
 
Remember what Jesus said and be encouraged:

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
        - St. John 16:33 KJV


God bless!
Sis. Stephanie D. K. Tyus

                                         "This joy that I have the world didn't give
                                           it and the world can't take it away."