God Wants to Hear You Sing

Happy New Year Friends! While driving home from 9 glorious days with my family for Christmas, I was thinking about 2015. I had plenty of time to ponder anew what the Almighty can do with the new year. With my new car, I have a 3 month trial of Sirius XM and I was listening to enLighten ... the Southern Gospel station. Yes, I do love Southern Gospel music. When Greater Vision's song "God Wants to Hear You Sing" came on the radio I thought to myself, "I think I want that to be my theme for 2015." The song had already come up in a conversation a month earlier and it is a special song to me already.

The summer of 2001, I went to The Stamps-Baxter School of Music for two weeks. What's Stamps-Baxter? ... it's a Southern Gospel music camp. No joke. During those two weeks I attended music theory classes and learned how to read/sing shape notes. We had a camp wide choir rehearsal twice a day with a concert at the end of camp and a CD recording. For an extra fee you could take vocal or instrumental lessons. You had seminars that you could attend and there were afternoon or nightly concerts by many well known groups in the industry. You also had the opportunity to sing in front of the school and be critiqued. This was pre-American Idol craze and I somehow still ended up singing for the Simon of the camp. I was blasted (criticized more than critiqued) and decided from that day on I would never do something like that again. I do not sing for the critique or praise of others. I sing to bring glory to God. One afternoon Greater Vision was there in concert. Jason Waldroup (one of my favorite singers) was the tenor with the group at that time and they sang one of their new hits ... 

"God Wants to Hear You Sing"

Their chains were fastened tight

Down at the jail that night

Still Paul and Silas would not be dismayed

They said, "It's time to lift our voice, 

Sing praises to the Lord

Let's prove that we will trust Him, come what may."

God wants to hear you sing

When the waves are crashing round you

When the fiery darts surround you

When despair is all you see

God wants to hear your voice

When the wisest man has spoken

And says your circumstance is as hopeless as can be

That's when God wants to hear you sing

He loves to hear our praise 

On our cheerful days

When the pleasant times out weigh the bad, by far

But when suffering comes along

And we still sing His song

That is when we bless the Father's heart

God wants to hear you sing

When the waves are crashing round you

When the fiery darts surround you

When despair is all you see

God wants to hear your voice

When the wisest man has spoken

And says your circumstance is as hopeless as can be

That's when God wants to hear you sing

God wants to hear you sing

God wants to hear you sing

I sat in the pew of the auditorium at Treveca Nazarene University in Nashville and just wept listening to that song. You see back in February of that year, my Granddaddy Mullins had unexpectedly passed away. He loved Southern Gospel music. I had already met the writer of one of his favorite songs "Touring that City" sung by The Inspirations. We had that sung at his funeral. And the songwriter was a teacher at the camp and was older than my granddaddy. My Granddaddy wasn't one for much show of emotion but I will always remember watching him raise his hand at an Inspirations concert at our church in Memphis. For all I know it could have been on that song but there is no doubt that Southern Gospel music touched his heart. I think he would have been pleased to know that I went to that camp that summer. 

But getting back to "God Wants to Hear You Sing" ... Growing up in the ministry is hard and that year in our church's life was quite difficult, my junior year of High School had been very trying and to lose Granddaddy on top of all of that was even worse. That song spoke to that hurt and grief in my 17 year old heart. When it would have been easy to stop singing which is exactly what Satan would have wanted God was sweetly reminding me to sing to Him and for Him. And only He could know that a year later He would call our family to a church in East Tennessee where The McKamey's would host their annual Homecoming and for two years they'd have Greater Vision as a guest group. As the pastor's family, we hosted a hospitality room for The McKamey's and their guests. It was a joy getting to know The Florida Boys, Primitive Quartet, furthering our friendship with The Inspirations and of course Greater Vision. Now, it's 2015 and I sing in my church choir with Jason Waldroup and his fabulous wife Missy! It's been fun seeing life coming full circle in many ways.

2014 was definitely a year of growth, obedience and grief and what's the message that the Lord is speaking to my heart once again? "I want to hear you sing." I started praying on that drive home that the Lord would give me a verse that would speak to singing for 2015. My verse of 2014 was Romans 8:28 and the Lord proved himself faithful through that promise "to work all things for good." On Monday night, the 29th, I was reading my Jesus Calling and felt led to look up all the verses that tied in to the devotional for the day. I even jokingly thought "maybe I'll find my verse!" The first verse was Psalm 40:4. I read it but my eyes were caught by the verse above ... Psalm 40:3 ... my verse for 2015(!) ... Isn't God so gracious to care about the little things?

What's my new song to sing? Well I believe it can be summed up with one word ... GRACE (!!) ... as found in the picture at the top of the page. I had already added that pic to my phone's wallpaper before finding this verse. So are you sensing a theme in my life for this year? Ha! I know that above all I want my life to be marked by His grace ... the grace that He has bestowed on me that I can ease up on myself (not that I will go frolicking through the sandy shores of sin singing "I'm free, I'm free ... His grace has set me free to as I please." That's not what His grace has done for me or you, for that matter) and continue to share that grace with others. It's going to be a GOOD year! How do I know? Because I know Who goes before me and I can rest in that.

So do you have a verse, a phrase, a WORD or a theme for this year? If so, please share!!

I love you all!!

Blessings ...

- Melody Faith