This is my Fight Song! My Battle Cry song! You did hear it right, my fight song! My battle cry song! A worship song!
"When life seems gloomy and I feel like 'going up a hill or in a valley kind of situation', you know what helps me keep up the faith and get back to my feet? A worship song that starts very raw, totally speaks to what I am exactly feeling. A song that cries out to Jesus for help, for guidance then builds up to God's answer to my need, my despair. A song that I can just sing, shout about and make me feel revived and energized with GOD's truth!" [excerpt from P31 OBS Community]
A few months ago, at Proverbs 31 Online Bible Studies (OBS), we studied Lysa Terkeurst's latest book called "It's Not Supposed To Be This Way". It was a dig deep and self-check kind of book and study. It really hits the most painful and raw side of me. I weren't going through any major disappointment during this time but it's still is a very good Bible Study personally. It helped me reflect on how I handled my past disappointments, how it has affected me and if there is still any hurt from those ones from my past that is affecting my present. It is such a great book on it's own but more so it was a great starting point of a discussion and our biggest group of OBSers yet in P31 history. I also found a great community in here. Women, both strong and weak; long-time faithfuls and new born agains; those hurting and those who have overcome disappointments....all sharing their experiences and hurt together. Through this OBS, we all learned to lean on each other, ask for prayer and support, go through our disappointments with a few thousands of other faithful women praying behind us...it was such a great opportunity. Most of all, we all learned to "find refuge in Jesus and in the word of GOD through any disappointment", that through our disappointments and hardest times JESUS is just there waiting for us to come and cast our burdens on HIM.
During one of our OBS Community sessions we were asked to identify a fight song. A song that truly speaks of how you feel when you are going through a major disappointment that then builds up to how you can overcome that feeling. The study leader asked us to: "Choose a worship song that starts very raw, totally speaks to what you are exactly feeling. A song that cries out to Jesus for help, for guidance then builds up to God's answer to your need, your despair. A song that you can just sing, shout about and make you feel revived and energized with GOD's truth!" And rightfully I chose Lauren Daigle's song "YOU SAY".
Lauren Daigle is a rising superstar in her own right in Nashville, her voice is something else. She is already a multi-awarded christian artist. Most of her songs feel like they all come from deep within, results of past hurt, true experiences and great testimonies of faith that is why they connect easily with the most personal part of me.
"YOU SAY" tackles my inner self, you know when you have that overwhelming feeling of being "NOT ENOUGH" and it starts to get under your skin. Especially being a woman at this time and age, it seems like it is getting to be more challenging surviving in our society. The pressure of social media nowadays is at its worst. If you do not know how to filter and choose your feeds you are in for some unnecessary disappointment in self-image and so much more. If you are not grounded in the Word of GOD as a woman of faith, all these pressures that surround you at work, at home, sometimes even at church can actually break you rather than build you up. I know that this is the work of Satan, trying to lure me into temptation and unbelief...and this song greatly helps get me back on track with JESUS. It helps to remind me that I am GOD's creation, that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).
“The most powerful praise songs don’t start out as beautiful melodies; rather, they start as guttural cries to the Lord for help. But soon the process of pain turns into the promise of a praise like no other.” by Lysa Terkeurst (It's Not Supposed To Be This Way)
Lysa Terkeurst mentioned in her book that most of the times, "The most powerful praise songs don't start out as beautiful melodies; rather, they start as guttural cries to the Lord for help. But soon the process of pain turns into the promise of a praise like no other." And this is exactly how this song develops, from a voice of struggle trying to fight that whispering saying you are NOT ENOUGH; then asking for a rescue to help get out of that dire situation; until it slowly picks up to the truth of what JESUS can offer to each one of us; then the promise from one true GOD that can help us get out of that valley of uncertainty and discouragement and lift us back into a better ground. Then this fight song finishes really strong with praises and full trust and belief in one true GOD who loves us and cares for us. There is no denying He first loved us because He gave His only son to pay for our sins on the cross. Yes! Just believe and have everlasting life! (John 3:16)
Some people takes a long while staying in that valley of confusion and sometimes they just couldn't figure out how to ask for help, how to reach out to the hand of GOD that's out there ready to haul them out of the pit of depression. They are lost, hopeless, insecure, trapped, lonely, and all other negative feelings that overcome them.
Some of them need friends to show them and let them know about JESUS! We can be that friend too, if we live more like JESUS and if we share our own experience with Him and our testimony, then maybe that can open a door for them to know JESUS like you and me did! You might not be in a dire situation but your friend or a family member might be... offer help or even just a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on! Be the one to LISTEN! Be the one to just SPEND TIME with them. Be the one to just BE THERE for them.
In line with the observance of MAY as National Mental Health Awareness Month, Lauren Daigle post her video above on her Instagram account together with a message for people struggling with thoughts of suicide or knows someone struggling with depression. She used this song to inspire us all that even if we feel we are nothing or nobody...remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Reach out to someone. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). GOD LOVES YOU!
Do you have a battle cry song? A fight song? A tune you sing when the going gets tough? A worship song that digs into your very soul and an utterance of prayer and praise to our God? Try this song "YOU SAY", it might help you overcome some feelings of disappointment or emptiness and spur you up to know JESUS more.
BE BLESSED!
