A stop and consider moment

 It has been a while since my last post. Life has happened. Changes have occured. I am still here and striving to live intentionally for Jesus in all that I do. Although I am still being molded and do not always succeed in living for Jesus as I should or want too.

But here is my stop and consider moment.

I rarely let anyone see the part of me that is hurt when someone says or does something that does inflict pain in my heart. Wheather it was on purpose or unkowingly.

Jesus and I have had and continue to have long conversations about those small hurtful comments from others. Especially when it comes to music.

I have a deep love of music. I don't listen to just one genre of music. I was classically trained in the instrument I play. I have listened to country, to oldies (from the '60's and 70's), some '80s, Christian rap, Christian pop, Christian praise and worship. I have heard rap (not Christian), heavy metal and hard rock. Who hasn't listened to any one of these? 

But what of these is the best to listen too?

Over the years I have had friends and aquantances, unkowingly mention that they didn't like classical music or that old hymn we were forced to sing at church on Sunday or that new praise and worship song was way too loud and to rocky, or that country song is just another one about losing the love of the one singing its life.

It wasn't the fact they mentioned it - it was the tone of their voice when they said it and the way they dismissed that I might or might not have liked the song. They wouldn't take the time to hear me out on why it was good or bad.

So here is my stop and consider moment - I mean deeply consider. 

Are you one of those that takes the time to intentionally listen to what someone else has to say or is your voice and opinion the only one that matters? 

Do stop and intentionally consider your response before opening your mouth in response to what the other person is saying? And if you stop and intentionally consider your response do you stop and consider the tone in which you are going to say it?

Now I will say this stop and consider moment materialized for me over my love of music and how many of my friends have told me that I do not have good taste in music or that I love old music and its not cool enough for them or that one song that I play on repeat for hours is terrible. 

But did you listen to the words? 

Did the words bring you comfort?

Did the music (while maybe not your usual type) fit the words of the song so well?

Did the swell of the orchestra coupled with the words bring you to the throne of Jesus?

Just because it's old and no longer the in fad does not mean that it is not good.

Just because it is old does not mean that it cannot bring you to the throne of Jesus.

I survived a tornado.

Just last week. My third oldest nephew asked me if I was scared. I replied that I was for a small moment but then I remembed that I was (and I am still) in the palm of God's pwerful right hand! 

Yes the tornado touched down just blocks from where I was and did not cause damage to the building I was in, but it was still a somewhat scary but not moment in my life. 

You may be asking what does this have to do with your stop and consider moment?

While I was sitting on the bathroom floor with my coworkers, my bone conductive headphones were playing some of those not cool to some old hymns. The tried and true back bone of any church service across the globe for generations. The ones written by someone who lived their life without being able to see, the one who lost his daughters to a wave at sea, the one who listened to the moaning of the slaves on the ship he captained back and forth making his living, the preachers who brought revival to countries across the globe, the missionaries who traversed the hardships of foreign lands to share their love of Jesus amidst persecution being willing to give their last full measure of devotion to their Savior.

These same old hymns are less and less known in churches today simply because they do not appeal to the younger up and coming generations. The new praise and worship music is good and a lot of it has solid Biblical foundations and I enjoy some of it deeply. But to not share the solid tried and true hymns with the next generations? We are losing out on some of the most solid tried and true music that we have. 

Let me tell you what makes it possible for me to enjoy both modern and old Christian music in so many genres.

The words of the song. 

Not the sound.

Not who wrote it.

The words. 

You want to know why it was the old hymns that day, sitting on the bathroom floor surviving a tornado?

Because of the words. The comfort those words bring every time I hear them. Because I invited Jesus to bring me the peace I sought to find in that moment.

So next time you might open your mouth to say in a negative fashion how passionatly you dislike a song or someone or something -  I ask you to stop and intentionally consider how it might sound to the person with whom you are speaking. 
No one wants to inflict hurt or sarrow in someone elses life intentionally and unknowningly. 

I ask this of you who read this, from the depths of my work in progress heart. Jesus and I still have long conversations about my thoughts, and attitude and words because I do not want to inflict hurt. 

One - because it isn't Christ like

Two - because I have been hurt and know what it feels like.

I am still a work in progress. God made us with our own unique thoughts and opinions. I share this for one purpose only. To encourage myself and everyone who reads this to stop and consider before opening their mouth and intentionally or unintentionally hurting someone with words or actions.

To consider what their tone of their speech is or how their facial features or body stance does say as much as their words.

Just take that stop and consider moment. It matters and it makes a difference.

To close - the heart thoughts and the mind thoughts eventually come out in action/deed and or words. 

It is imperative to be intentional about what we put in our hearts and into our minds. Especially music. Music has the capability to bring our mood up or down. Even of the music has no words. 

1 John 3:15 "everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

Jeremiah 17:9 " the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desprately sick; Who can undersatnd it?"

2 Corinthians 10:5b " and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

"It Is Well With My Soul", also known as "When Peace, Like A River", is a hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss. First published in Gospel Hymns No. 2 by Ira Sankey and Bliss (1876), it is possibly the most influential and enduring in the Bliss repertoire and is often taken as a choral model, appearing in hymnals of a wide variety of Christian fellowships.

Background

This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford's life. The first was the death of his son followed shortly by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (Spafford had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire).[1] His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time Spafford had planned to travel to England with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, to help with Dwight L. Moody's upcoming evangelistic campaigns. In a late change of plan, Spafford sent his wife, Anna, and their four daughters, Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta, ahead while Spafford was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, killing 226 people, including Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta.[2] Anna survived and sent Spafford the now famous telegram, "Saved alone …". Shortly afterwards, as he traveled to England to meet his grieving wife, Spafford was inspired to write these words as his ship passed the spot near where his four daughters had died.[3] Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.

The sinking of the steamship Ville du Havre

Philip Bliss

Original lyrics

"It is Well with My Soul, first print 1876

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know[b]

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, (it is well),

With my soul, (with my soul)

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend

A song in the night, oh my soul!"

Bill & Gloria Gaither

Because He Lives

How sweet to hold a newborn baby

And feel the pride and the joy that He gives

Oh, but greater still the calm assurance, hmm

We can face uncertain days because He lives

And because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth a living, just because He lives

And then one day I'll cross that river

I'll fight life's final war with pain

And then, as death gives way to victory

I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth a living, just because He lives

He lives

He lives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RjFWZhka5I

PS I survived a tornado - and today I can say that because He lives and I am His daughter, that I am safe and it IS well with my soul! I can face whatever tomorrow has in store because He Lives today!