The Song of the Savior
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given . . . and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
These verses are used so often, especially around the holiday season, that sometimes we read them without truly comprehending what they say about our Savior. I am as guilty as the next person for this dullness of heart.
However, recently the meaning of these verses sprang to life in my soul as I was touched so deeply and profoundly my heart will never quite be the same again.
I was sitting with a young woman from another county in my office. This young woman has seen and experienced more horrors than you or I will ever go through in our lifetime. As I sat with her and encouraged her to express her heart so that the healing journey could begin, she replied that she could not yet talk, or journal for that matter, about everything she had lived through.
"And yet", she continued, with her eyes downcast and her voice so soft I had to lean forward to listen, "I do get some of it out of my heart by my songs."
"You write music?" I asked her, somewhat surprised.
"Yes. The music is a part of my story. I make the words. The tunes come," was her reply.
"Would you sing one of those songs for me?" I requested.
She raised her eyes to me slowly. "In this moment?"
"Yes. In this moment. Will you show me your heart through your music?"
There was a long silence. I held my breath, fearing that if I even breathed it would break the moment. It was as if all of heaven was leaning forward, waiting to see what would happen. Would she sing? Would she release some of the power of her story and her pain through her music in my presence?
Softly and slowly she began. She sang in her native language so my mind did not understand the words. And yet, as the music built my heart understood. As the song was sung in one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard, the music told me a story. It was a story of pain and fear, brutality and horror. It built loudly into a minor key with an almost hateful emotion behind it and then shrank back down into cowering fear. I sat there wondering if my heart could take the emotion I was hearing in the music.
And then, quite suddenly, a lullaby began. The voice grew gentle and I heard hope and healing in the music.
After the song was done I asked this young woman to translate for me. She explained the lyrics which painted pictures almost too terrible for me to comprehend. Things she had seen and heard in her country. And then, as she translated the final lines my heart began to weep. "Baby sister don't you cry. Jesus has come to wash our hurt away. Forget the past, forget the pain. Jesus has come to wipe our tears away."
I sat there, unable to speak, tears on my face. I could only think as I sat there, "This is why I do what I do and this is why the Savior came. It is for this kind of music that He brought His own song here to earth. To transform the music of pain and suffering into music of love and healing."
This young woman and countless other suffering hearts are the reason He came to earth as a babe. He lived a human life complete with suffering, rejection, and agony. He suffered brutality and death. And then He rose again, victorious King and Conquerer so that He could offer hope and healing to a dying, pain-filled world.
This too is why True Hope Counseling exists. To take this hope and healing the Savior offers to wounded hearts, wherever they may be. True Hope Counseling is simply a part of the grander song that all of heaven is singing. It is but a simple chorus line of the eternal song. I am blessed to be a part of it.
May God richly bless you and may you personally encounter the song of the Savior this holiday season.
Melissa