Who Sets Your Tune?



Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

James 5:13

 

Who sets the “tune” for your day? No, that wasn’t “tone”, it was “tune”! In my house my husband Larry sets the tune. First thing in the morning I can count on him humming or singing something as he putts around the house. His singing is okay, but lets just say, we won’t be getting a bus and going on the road with his singing but to me it is heavenly. Whatever he sings I usually catch on and sing along.  Sometimes that is good, when he sings “Amazing Grace” or “There is Power in the Blood” but like yesterday it was “Roll Out the Barrel”! What do you do with that? I’ll tell you what I did, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. He set the tune for the day and try as I might I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Sunday we visited with a dear friend who is not expected to live very long, but she ended up setting a tune in my heart. We were taken back by her frailness as she lie in the hospital bed but the spark in her eyes was still there. For years Violet and her husband Jack attended the same cell group as Larry and I. They were such a great addition to our little group, many times blessing our hearts as they shared their funny stories as well as their spiritual journey with us. At prayer time Violet never failed to ask for prayer for her son who didn’t know the Lord. We were all so accustomed to praying for him that even if Violet was not there, which wasn’t often, we prayed for him anyway.

Many times we enjoyed Violet as she led us in singing an old hymn that had been especially precious to her that week. Her voice would ring out, as she remembered every word. Our hearts were warmed by this one who, even in poor health, would raise her voice in praise to the Lord. How humbled I felt, as I whined about something insignificant, while this one who had every reason to whine, sang and praised God.

Knowing that even as she lay in the hospital, Violet had lost her sister the day before, I asked if she had gotten to see her sister before she passed. The family told us that she had been wheeled down to see her sister and had even sang her favorite hymn to her before she died.

I bent over Violet as she lay there in the bed and asked if she felt like singing that song to us. I was surprised to see her eyes brighten as she began to sing “In the Garden”! As I joined her in singing I felt the Lord in the room with us there. My mind went back to all of those times that Violet had set the “tune” for our little group and how she set the tune for me that day.  I was reminded that even in hard times, we can sing His praises.

…And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.

 

As Beth Moore writes:  If we're willing, God is our song when we are happy, our escape when we are tempted, our hope when we're despairing, our joy in tribulation, our strength in weakness, and our immortality in dying.