On November 27, 2019, the Lord Jesus gave me a poem to write
entitled, “You Loved Me.” So, I
posted it on the internet. Then, one of my fellow Christian bloggers and
friend, Tosin, read the poem. And, she responded to it with a tune for the
poem, so it could become a song. God had given the tune to her, so she recorded
herself singing it, and then she sent it to me via email. And, I was glad to
receive it.
The interesting thing about this is that in May of this
year, Tosin had written a poem, and she knew it was supposed to be a song, and
so she asked me if I would write a tune for her poem. So, the Lord gave me a
tune for her poem, which then became the song, “It’s All You.” And now she was giving me a tune for my poem, and
she wanted to sing it, too. She has a beautiful heart and voice, for the glory
of God.
So, I went to work turning her tune into written music. I first
had to figure out the notes and then the timing, and then the chords, etc. But,
the poem was seven stanzas long. So, if this was going to be a song, it needed
to not have the same tune for all seven stanzas. So, I prayed about it, and the
Lord led me to a different tune for stanzas 3-5. And, so the words had to be
changed and rearranged some, too, to fit with the music.
The tune seemed to be a little different beat, though, but
it worked. And, I knew the Lord was in it, and that this is what he wanted, so
I followed his lead. And, then it turned out that I had written the melody for
those 3 stanzas in ¾ timing while the bass notes underneath that melody were
still in cut time. But, it worked, and I knew this was what the Lord wanted.
So, I didn’t try to change it.
But, as I thought about the words just to that section, and
then as I thought about the one timing against the other timing, I realized
that this is what it is like when we are following the Lord and we are serving
him, and especially if we are sharing his gospel. We are going to be walking to
a different beat than the norm. We are going to be going against the flow. And,
we are going to have to really focus on him so we don’t miss a beat or so we
don’t start following the wrong beat. So, there is a lesson here not just in
the words, but in the timing, too.
Anyway, I believed the Lord wanted me to sing the middle
section and for Tosin to sing the beginning and the ending which is the tune
she believes God gave her to sing. And, this is interesting, too, isn’t it, for
I just realized another application here. And, that is that we are all
different. The tune God gives Tosin to sing is not going to be the same tune he
gives me, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. He gifts us all
differently, and yet we can harmonize together, we can work together and sing
the same song, with the same words, but expressing ourselves uniquely in the
way God has designed for us. We don’t all have to be the same. And, we can still
unite.
Another neat thing about this whole project is that Tosin is
from Africa, but she lives in the UK now, and she is young enough to be my
granddaughter. And, I am an old white woman who has always lived in the Midwest
or Southeast USA. Yet, we are not divided by race, by color, by age, or by
distance or culture. For, we are sisters in Christ, and so we can work together
in harmony with one another, even though we are different.
The Song Lyrics
The song, although it certainly expresses my walk with the
Lord, expresses the experiences and hearts of other followers of Christ whose
experiences may not be the same as mine. For, so many of us have known
loneliness, heartache, fears, despair, affliction, trials, opposition, abuse,
mistreatment, etc. We have known dark valleys, and we have known mountain tops,
too.
We have also known what it is like to sin against God and
then to have him forgive us our sins because he loved us. And, then for him to
not only restore us and renew us, but then we have known that call of God upon
our lives where we said “Yes!” sometimes even knowing that more hardships were
going to await us, and that even more dark valleys were ahead.
But, we have also known the strength of the Lord when we
were weak, and we have seen how he has supplied our every need. And, we have
known his comfort and his encouragement, and sometimes his chastisement, too,
when we got off course or we began to go the wrong direction.
And, for many of us, we have known much rejection, even from
the church, and so there have been times when we felt all alone, other than we
knew God was with us, and so the Lord either comforted us with his love during
those times or he blessed us with other followers of Christ to encourage us. I
have had much encouragement from my Christian family over the internet, so I am
very thankful for them. I love you all!
We could all think of so many ways in which God has blessed
our lives, and supplied for our needs, and performed miracles in our lives, and
guided us, and comforted and helped us through those dark times. If we were to
name them all, there would not be space to list them all. So, the poem (the
song) ends with a summary of praise and thanksgiving to God for all the many
wonderful blessings and for his wonderful and awesome love and grace.
And, even in the dark times, we can still be glad. We can
still be joyful, because our joy is not dependent on our circumstances. It is
dependent on our relationship with Jesus Christ who loves us and who gave
himself up for us that we might become his possession, and so that we might
leave our lives of sin behind us to follow him in obedience to his will for our
lives.
You Loved Me
An Original Work / December 3, 2019
A song based off the poem by the same name
When I was lonely and
afflicted,
You were there to
pick me up.
You took me in Your
arms,
And You held me
tenderly.
Your love embraced
me.
Your grace sustained
me.
When my heart cried
out to You
In my fear and my
despair,
You never turned
away,
But You let me know
You loved me.
Your grace forgave
me.
You did not shame
me.
Then, when I
answered the call,
“Here, Lord, send
me.”
You sent me to where
I must be.
Your mercy held me,
did not fail me.
All this, You had
planned, to use me.
And, when all trials
and scorn
Came to test me.
You gave me all that
I would need.
You strengthened me
so I’d not fail You.
Your kindness
blessed me, it touched me.
And, when I needed
the church
To lift up me,
To hearten me so I’d
not fail,
You blessed me with
folks who would love me.
Their presence with
me, Your praise hailed!
And, when I walked
through the valley
Of the shadow of the
death,
And tears flowed
from my eyes,
Still Your kindness
was there for me.
Your touch, it
healed me.
For I believed You.
When now I think
about the ways,
Of the many, many
ways
That You in Your
great love
Show me that You’ll
always care for me,
My heart, it thanks
You,
And gladness fills
me, fills me.
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