God makes a way
Ever gotten a song stuck in your head? Yeah, I know you have. Me too. Recently I learned that this phenomenon ( of stuck songs) happens when we don’t enjoy the song to the fullest. Consequently, we end up with an open loop. This happens most often with songs we despise. Here is the sequence: We hate the song, so we turn the station as soon as we hear it, but the song lingers in our head, and thus those darn lyrics begin to roll off of our tongues. To which we cry, “UGH! I hate that song.” And the person next to us replies, “So why do you keep singing it?”
Now we know why.
As bad as an open loop of a song we dislike can be, it is not the worst thing. The worst thing has to be when we hear a portion of a song, usually for the first time, and that song pierces our souls in a meaningful way, but the deejay does not give us any information about the song, and later, we cannot remember the tune.
This was what happened yesterday.
I am on my way to church, and the digital display was on something random. Because I was driving, I had to fiddle with the buttons and did not clearly discern the singer’s full name. Two or three songs later, I stopped at a red light to write what I could recall. It wasn’t much. “Manger,” and I thought the artist’s name might have been Brandon. That was all I had. I scribbled both on my scratch pad and headed on to the eleven o’clock service.
Later that evening, before going to bed, I used my two words to search for the mystery song. I googled and listened to random songs. After hitting a brick wall, I prayed about it and googled some more but couldn’t find anything that sounded like what I had heard earlier that morning. This went on for quite a while, maybe an hour. I know it was close to midnight.
Feeling drowsy and disappointed, I put all my devices away. I had my evening prayer, and somewhere between meditating on God’s promises and this morning, I drifted off to sleep.
When God woke me up, I could barely whisper my praise. My breath was labored, nothing too unusual for me, so I gave my usual thanks for the new day, wisdom, Jesus, my family, and for the time I was about to have in the Word when quite involuntarily I began to sing the chorus of a song. My mystery song.
I get goosebumps recalling the events of this morning. But there, in the dark of dawn, wrapped in cotton covers, the song’s chorus—I could not recall yesterday—began to flow from my lips without inhibition.
Leah wept.
What I think happened was simply an example of my Abba’s manifested love for me. A couple of Scriptures came to mind as I basked in the awe of an answered prayer. Psalm 8:4 states, “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for Him?” It makes no sense that God would care about me or you or my desire to know a song, even a praise song, yet He does. The other Scripture that tugged on my heart was Psalm 138:8. My Father perfects that which concerns me. Lastly, Isaiah 48:18 reminded me of how awesome God is and the lengths He will go to reveal His love.
God’s love amazes me, and His concern humbles me. I am so grateful.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. You may think something similar or entirely different about serendipitous moments. Feel free to share your perspective.
You may also want to know the name and singers of the song I was seeking out so desperately. Well, here it is: “God Made a Way” by Brandon Heath and Tasha Layton. Once I knew the chorus, finding the song was nothing but smooth sailing. It is likely to be my 2022 Christmas song of the year. The lyrics broadcast the reason for my celebration of Jesus Christ’s entrance into the world to save a lost you and me. I’ve included a video link with the words for you. I really hope you enjoy the song even half as much as I am.
In Infinite Love,
Leah