Trials, tribulation, hardship, troubles, problems, bad-times, calamity, etc. Call it whatever you like, it always leads to worry. The worry you’re feeling right now, always stems from a fear of the unknown. Once the seed of fear takes root, the buds of worry are guaranteed to blossom. Listen, I can relate. I’m a recovering worrier. I was a wreck. Stressed out and worried about everything. Sleepless nights were my normal. I believed that there was no end to my vicious cycle of worry. Until I was encouraged to replace my worry with worship, by someone whom I greatly admire. I thought singing? Really? Wow, that’s a new spin? Don’t get me wrong. As a young Christian, I was always taught the importance of worship. But did I apply it back then, of course not! It wasn’t until I got older, life got complicated and worry started to take hold. Only then did I realize that I needed to find a way to manage my fears so worry couldn’t destroy me. Notice, I said manage my fears. My fears didn’t magically disappear. In order to manage my fears, I had to learn to gain control of my thoughts. In order to gain control of my thoughts, I had to do two things: 1.) Willfully examine every fear; 2.) Search a Bible index to point me to all the chapters, in Bible, that taught me how to manage those fears.
As a Christian, the Bible serves as my “how to” manual. It guides me on how to live, how to love others, how to manage our fears and my money. Now, the Bible is a huge book loaded with sage advice. So how did I find the answer to my “fears” in it’s vast sea of chapters and verses? Well, I had to get a Bible concordance. A Bible concordance is an index that lists words and phrases relating your specific fear/worry, among other things. This index pointed me exactly to all the chapters that taught me how to deal with any fear/worry.
I know you’re thinking what does this have to do with singing? Well, in my search for answers to my worries, my concordance kept pointing me to the Book of Psalms. Come to find out The Book of Psalms are prayers offered up to God as songs. While in college, I got to know “The Book of Psalms” intimately. Just a year after I graduated, a series of tragic events darkened my path. I felt lost, afraid and confused. I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t know how to cope or where to turn. Then a good friend recommend I read The Book of Psalms. I was hesitant. I didn’t think this book, or any other book for that matter, could help me . My pain was so deep. I never thought I’d make it through. Then, I started reading The Book Of Psalms. The words spoke peace into my suffering. The songs became my release valve. This book was the blueprint I used to escape my grief and sadness. It became my daily meditation. To this day, it’s my daily song. I find verses that resonate with me and I sing them. Every time worry tries to rear it’s ugly head, I find a verse from Psalms to refute my worrying mind, any contrary attitude and all my bad days . So if you struggle with worry/fear, conjure up a tune and flip to The Book of Psalms.
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