#11 - why does my voice matter?

Psalm 30:4

"Sing to the Lord, you His faithful ones, and praise His holy name."

The Bible commands us to sing.

You may say things like, "my voice isn't very good," or "I'll leave the singing to the pros on stage," but you may not understand one very important detail about YOUR voice.

God created us with many unique features that we share with no other person on the planet. You probably know that your fingerprint is unique to you, but did you know you also have a unique voiceprint?

I found this quote on a site that specialized in voiceprint security systems:

"A voiceprint is a set of measurable characteristics of a human voice that uniquely identifies an individual. These characteristics, which are based on the physical configuration of a speaker's mouth and throat, can be expressed as a mathematical formula."

This means that no one else can worship God the way you can with your unique voice. No one else can sing to God the way you can. Your voice is known to your Heavenly Father and He wants to hear it, even if you think the people around you don't agree.

God, help me to take comfort in knowing that I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me to find my identity in who You say I am, a beloved child of God. No one else has my set of vocal characteristics. You recognize my voice among the millions, I will use it to sing to my Savior and to speak of Your great name. Amen.

#19 - why sing in the rain?

Imagine the scene. You've been followed by a girl who has an evil spirit in her for multiple days. Finally, you have had enough, you turn and say to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" It comes out right away! You are probably expecting an applause or at least a “Thank you” from some bystanders… Nope. A mob forms and you are stripped, beaten with rods, thrown in jail and shackled in stocks.

How would you be feeling?  

Would you respond like this:

Acts 16:25

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."

Singing would be the last thing on my mind, but these two men knew something about their Creator that we need to learn. Our view of God is not determined on our circumstances. How easy is it to praise God when the prayers are answered? When the child is healed? When the scans for cancer are clean?

What should we do, however, amidst the trials? When the child dies.  When cancer comes back. Should we force ourselves to sing happy songs? Please do not! There is a time for sorrow and mourning, and in that emotional canyon God is still all-powerful and He desperately wants us to cry out to Him. There are songs and hymns for every emotional occasion because in all circumstances we have the opportunity to trust that Jesus is enough.

I don't know what kind of songs Paul and Silas were singing. But other people in bad situations were listening.  The tone of the hymns may have been melancholy, but they were commited in sadness to saying that God is better and beyond our circumstances.

Tell Him your hurts.

He can handle it.

We need to learn to worship Him even when our heart feels encased in iron.

Don't let what is wrong with you keep you from worshipping what is right about God!

LORD God,

When my heart is heavy with grief and when a smile can't leave my face.

I will worship You.

When times are hard and when friends are plenty.

I will worship You.

When I am overwhelmed and when my feet nearly float above the floor.

I will worship You.

When I forget that You are good and when You remain gracious to me.

I will worship You.

Amen.

#33 - why do we want to create for the Creator?

The 5th word and the 1st verb right out of the gate: Create.

Genesis 1:1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1 goes on to say in verse 27:

"So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God."

As a people created in the image of a creative/creator God, it is no wonder that we love to construct, perform, design and discover. Whether a person is a follower of Christ or hasn't yet collided with the Maker of the universe; we are all made in the image of God. Therefore, we create.

Psalm 33:3

"Sing a new song to Him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout."

Beauty and creativity go hand-in-hand and isn't limited to musicians. I once heard a definition of beauty as being anything done to its greatest level. Using that logic, a Harley Davidson, pencil drawing or fresh baked pie could all be beautiful.

Spending time to create things that are beautiful is an exercise in worship. Using our gifts (whatever they may be) to bring glory to God is always the best use of our time. When our gifts are used to produce opportunities at work, school and anywhere else to make Him known, we see God's plan of creating creative people made perfect.

Almighty Creator, Whose words made the heavens, Whose breath formed all the stars, You have inspired Your people to be creative. Help me to daily find new ways to declare Your glory. I pray that Candeo would be a place of creativity. Thank You for creating beautiful things. Help me to see the beauty all around me. Amen.