What Is the Song of Your Heart?

Last week, Pastor Michael invited me to serve as the Sunday school and small group coordinator at St. John UMC. Those of you who know me can understand how much this excites and blesses me! This ministry is one of the songs of my heart; a song that inspires, motivates, and delights me. It is one I have missed since relinquishing my role after my cancer and Jim’s heart surgery two years ago. I hope to bless God and the people of St. John as much as they have blessed me.

But what profoundly blesses me about my story is how God moved the hearts of people (including me) to give me my song again.

Julie, the current Sunday school coordinator, has been capably serving in this role for over 13 years. About a month ago, she realized she was growing weary (she has recently begun serving in another ministry), and my name just came to her mind as her possible replacement. She relayed this to Pastor Michael, who affirmed her suggestion but felt a nudge to wait until January to ask me. During that month, I was happily busy with holiday festivities, posting Advent devotions on my blog, writing my book, and spending time with my family. I was unaware of the discussions or the upcoming invitation.

This past Sunday as I was journaling, a new yearning came over me. I wrote what I felt God was saying to me: “This morning you wonder how to make the most of this year- and how to make each day productive, full, and used abundantly. Your sense of urgency (that your time is limited) has waned with each healthy check up; still you know that you are also aging with each passing season. You long to know that you have made a good difference for others, and that you have lived fully, not wasting any of your precious time.”

I then shared with Jim my longing to do something more with my life. He prayed for me, asking God to help me discern and discover how best to use my time and gifts. Until that morning, I hadn’t even noticed that I was longing for more. A few hours later, Pastor Michael was asking me to serve in this ministry I love…

Since the world began, I am not certain how much God intervenes or changes the world as it is. But I do believe that God changes the hearts of everyone who allows God to do so; we then can become the change in the world. God does this by bringing healing after pain, inspiration and wisdom after trials, resurrection after losses, courage for challenges, strength for tasks, and the vision and desire to use all of these gifts to work for good. Along with all of these gifts, God offers us a song for our hearts.

What is the song of your heart? Your song is the one that brings meaning, purpose and delight to your life. God hopes you will hear it, play it, sing it, and even dance to it, because your unique song brings joy to God, to others, and to you.

~You may already have a song in your heart; is this the moment to ask God to reveal the best way for you to play it and to share it?

~You may have been burdened with other responsibilities and have had to put your song on hold; is this the moment to ask God to keep playing it softly until the time is right? (Could that time be NOW?)

~You may have had trials or sorrows that have silenced your song; is this the moment to ask God to help you find a new song- a song of healing, inspiration and deeper meaning?

~You may be blessed to already be singing your song; is this the moment to stop and simply thank God for this joy?

Our hearts may be filled with so many blessings and yet we still yearn for that one beautiful song. God is ready to reveal that song to us, the song of our God-given dreams. God will provide our song of hope, of joy, of meaning. God wants to give us the joy of having a ‘heart-song’ to sing and to share. God delights in hearing the song of our hearts, sung out with joy, and blessing all who hear it… including the one who sings.