From Hymns To Hope

   THE PRAYER CONNECTION by Michele Avery

FROM HYMNS TO HOPE:  …… “and Oh the Joy that floods my soul” ©

What do I do, and where do I go, when life becomes too hard to bear? Lift up your head; sing a hymn, and follow it with prayer.

Many of us remember hymns as the “old” songs that we would hear in church when we were children. They were usually slow and full of what seemed to be pain, heartache, and a deep sense of urgency! Very few churches have held on to this type of music, due to our ever changing times; A time where almost every need has been met by quick fixes and temporary solutions. We want, what we want, when we want it, and a God who will keep up with the times! After all the God of today must meet this world’s standard of care or like anything else, he will soon be replaced with what we feel is a little faster, a little stronger, and lot more dependable!  And who could do this job better than Him? Well, me of course!......The only problem is, when I took on the job, I found that I was not qualified to take on the cares of this world. Why can’t I have the peace and contentment of my ancestors? Did they serve this same god that I know about? I am convinced that they must have served a great God!! Because they seemed to just KNOW that HE was indeed the Almighty!!

What did they have that we don’t seem to have when facing our “giants” in life? (those circumstances that seem too massive for us to handle).  Could it be that things were easier for them back then? Of course not! As a matter of fact, we will probably never have to experience what they had to experience and endure. So, why was it possible for them to remain calm and give to others such wisdom and hope, while in the middle of their storms? Let me explain, what it is that they had that we don’t seem to have! They believed in a God that seemed much “bigger” than the god that we seem to serve! And they believed in a God, who seemed much “stronger” and much “wiser” than the God that we tend to serve. Their God really could do, exceeding and abundantly above ALL that could ever be imagined, and his hand really could reach down from Heaven and help when they needed it and His blood? It really did reach the highest mountains and flow to the lowest valleys, and when people did them wrong, they would remind themselves that, “Can’t nobody, do me like Jesus, because He’s MY friend!” and when the world seemed to be changing around them; THEY saw a God, who was unmovable and unchanging, knowing that when things got too hard to bear, they could get on their knees and say, “I need thee, Oh, I need thee….every hour, I need thee” and getting up off of their knees,  could just ask God to “Take their hands and lead them on and help them to stand, because they were tired, weak, and worn!! WHY? Because Jesus was THEIRS! therefore they knew who to extend their hands to. They knew who picked their feet up and set them on solid ground; but not the same kind of ground that our feet are on, that gives in and attempts to swallow us up, because our hope is not always “built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!”  Oh, there is hope in our hymns of old.

Is it really that we don’t serve the same Great God, as our ancestors? Of course not!!  It’s just that THEIR God was REAL, real in their souls and what WE need to know is that the more we begin to Seek HIM; the “bigger” he will get, the wiser he will be, and the more able, he will become, giving us that assurance that they had, when singing, “yes, Jesus loves me; for the bible, tells me so” ….and when asked, how do you know? You can tell them; it’s because “He touched me, yes, he touched me; and oh, the joy, that floods my soul; something, something happened, and now too, I know, that he touched me and made me whole!”

Prayer for Today:

Dear Lord, thank you for being the SAME God, that our ancestors knew, and thank you Lord that you left your Word, your Holy Spirit, and Hymns of old to remind us that you are, just as powerful, just as wise, and just as able to do, just what you said that you would do, and that is to be God!!!!! A God who sits high and looks low, loving us so deeply, just as you do the sparrows; and now we know too, that we can sing in joy, because if your eyes are on the sparrows, then we know, you’re watching over us!!   Amen!