I may have said this before in my blog, but here goes again: I have the heart of a great singer. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the voice to go with it. I don’t send people running for cover when I sing, but Simon would frown at me and thank me for coming to the American Idol tryouts before giving me a firm, “No.”
I write to music (instrumentals and movie soundtracks without singing). I have praise albums that I sing along with while in my worship time. I have more movie soundtracks that have pop songs. I have music from the Depression (for my novel The Shepherd’s Voice) and from WWII (for my novels Ribbon of Years and The Victory Club). I have music from the ’50s (for my novel Beyond the Shadows). I have some great CDs from the sixties. Those are for nostalgia reasons. I came of age in the sixties and seventies. My passion for Broadway musicals has caused me to acquire numerous original cast CDs (Phantom and Miss Saigon and Les Miz and Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and many more). I have CDs of the great masters (Beethoven and Strauss, etc.).
The iPod was invented for someone like me. I can now take this vast musical library with me wherever I go. I love it!
Yesterday, a writer friend reminded me of a verse in Zephaniah that says:
For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song. (Zephaniah 3:17, NLT)
Jesus loves music. He invented it. And He sings over me in exultation. Wow! This doesn’t paint the picture of a remote God, does it? The Lord is personal, and He is dancing and singing for joy over the ones who belong to Him.
I wrote the following in my blog back in August of 2002. It’s always been one of my favorite posts so I’m going to repeat it here:
God made people with hearts as well as minds. A wise mind will walk circumspectly; a happy heart will dance with joy. The wise King Solomon ruled with his intellect. The passionate King David ruled as a man after God’s heart… It’s wise to walk with the Lord; it’s wonderful to dance with Him.
— Pathway to God’s Treasure by Lenya Heitzig & Penny Pierce Rose
Of all the things I want in and for my life, a passionate heart for God that causes me to dance with Jesus is at the top of the list. And I want my writing to be an extension of that passion, a dancing with Jesus in words on paper.
This morning, I close my eyes and see myself in a beautiful Idaho mountain meadow strewn with purple and blue wildflowers. I lift my arms high and throw back my head and feel the warm sunshine upon my face and begin to spin — the way I did as a child. I laugh for joy because Jesus loves me, and He allows me to dance with Him. What a miracle!
I’m in good company when I dance with the Lord. David danced before the Lord with all his might. (2 Samuel 6:14) Singing and dancing with Jesus. Sounds like heaven.
In the grip of His grace,
Robin
