Do you have a joyful song singing in your soul, even in the midst of trouble? Do you lift up your head to see the sky in awe and reverence? Do you feel thankful for being given life? Do you enjoy the freedom of stopping doing what you know it’s not good for yourself? Do you feel secure and protected when dreadful disasters happen?
I grew up in a culture surrounding with darkness: man-made idols worshiping, ghost stories, brutal images on media, and national history of hatred and prejudice, etc. Without knowing a way out, I lived in constant fear of people and worldly crisis, as well as anxiety of losing control of own life and failing on social expectation. No matter how many virtues I reflected on and tried to improve myself, there’s a guilt not able to be wiped out. The guilt induces condemnation, first condemning others, then condemning self, which generates bitterness and then cynicism.
A soul-broken person carries such self-destructive bomb that eventually explodes to kill self and hurt others. The firing distance ranges from inside of the family, marriage, and to the society.
However, genuine salvation of Jesus Christ is a life-changing experience. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17) The bomb wrapped on self was removed and replaced with a fountain of joy when one receives Jesus Christ as his/her Savior and the Lord of his/her life. Since then, I can sing a joyful song in my soul. I am set free to be my authentic self, and granted the peace of living in the uncertainty with hope and gratitude to the God of the universe.
So I pray: All the earth, shout for joy to the Lord. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalms 100) Lord, thank you for putting a new song in my heart.