You Shall Have a Song...

"You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept,

and gladness of heart,

as when one sets out to the sound of the flute

to go to the mountain of the LORD,

to the Rock of Israel." -Isaiah 30:29

I first stumbled across this verse something over a year ago. I was in the middle of a very difficult semester, and as per doctor's orders had to cut classes (including a midterm!) for a week because of illness.

My "night" seemed dark in many different ways.

When I came across this verse in Isaiah (one of my favorite books!) the imagery captured my imagination. I thought of a tossing, turning, sleepless, pain-filled, seemingly endless night. The desparate tears begin to spill, and it feels, so, alone.

Then -- just when all seems so hopeless; a beautiful soft strain of music is heard. Gently it steals in, then gradually becomes clearer and increases in beauty. Soon the darkness is hardly noticed anymore. As for the loneliness, well, it's gone.

Because He is present with His song. And His presence in the night makes all the difference.

Like a child fearful of the dark runs to her mother's bed, we can find security in Him. Even when our night seems to never end.

I think everyone has a "night." It could be painful circumstances, it could be illness, it could be long, lonely waiting, it could be, well, almost anything that seems "dark" in our lives.

But the darkness allows us to focus on the beautiful harmony of His song. And He does promise us a song.

If we only listen.