Joe McKeever

What to Do When You Don't Feel Like Singing

Anyone can sing when the skies are blue, the air is fresh, the flowers are dressing up the world, and your spirit is soaring. And, to the best of my knowledge, your Father in Heaven enjoys and appreciates that singing too. But the kind He values most, the singing that thrills His heart, the praise that establishes forever that you are His and He is yours, is what the Bible calls "songs in the night."

If you can still sing when you're feeling lousy, when the news is terrible, when the bank account is busted, the news from the doctor is bleak, the family is in rebellion and nothing good is going on in your life, then you have done something amazing.

He giveth songs in the night.(Job 35:10)

The best story I've heard in a year on this subject comes from a child.

Thelma Wells was born to an unwed mother who had more problems than any one soul should ever have. She was a severely deformed teenager with no husband and no place to go, since her own abusive mother insisted that she take the baby and leave the house. So when the baby was born, her unwed teenage mother found work as a maid cleaning 'the big house' while living with her baby daughter in servants' quarters.

Eventually, little Thelma went to live with her great-grandparents, who named her Thelma Louise Smith and adored her. They took her to church--every day, as grownup Thelma remembers! Her great-grandmother was down at the church for some kind of meeting or ministry or activity every day. Thelma learned to love the church and she grew to love the hymns and songs of praise. That would come in handy more than she knew.

From time to time, Thelma, still a little child, would be taken to live with her grandmother, the abusive woman who had kicked out Thelma's mother. True to form, the woman abused little Thelma too. She was locked in a dark, smelly, insect-infested closet until just before her grandfather came home. Then her grandmother would take her out, clean her up, and act as if all was well.

Imagine the horrors to a little child who has been locked inside a dark closet for most of the hours of a day. What kind of mental and emotional abuse is this?

Without knowing one thing more, readers would conclude that Thelma Louise Smith grew up mentally and emotionally ill. Such treatment would scar a person for life.

Didn't happen.

In spite of her deep fear, little Thelma spent her time in the closet singing every hymn and praise song she could remember. She would sing herself to sleep in the closet. The Lord received this little girl's innocent praise and rewarded it with an abundant life of joy, protecting her from feelings of anger or bitterness.

Thelma Smith Wells is an author, a nationally known speaker at women's events, and a mother of three, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of two. She is somebody. She is a dear sister in Christ. And she is my hero.

Songs in the night? How about "He giveth songs in the closet!"

Paul and Silas testified that He giveth songs in the jail! in Acts 16. Thrown into prison unjustly and locked into stocks after receiving the beating of their lives, they were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, God sent an earthquake that burst the locks loose and awakened the sleeping jailer who wanted in on what the disciples of Jesus were singing about.

When you are in the night, in the closet, in the jail, the world will listen to your song.

But not until then.

My nomination for the best book title of any year is Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This lady--a national treasure if America has ever had one--revealed her story of abuse and mistreatment and the faith that brought her through.

I have told on these pages of the time I stuck my head into a hospital room to say hello to the patient. Mrs. Vaughan was an elderly friend, the grandmother of a precious young lady my oldest son was dating, and a member of a nearby church of another denomination. Seeing her name on the hospital roster, I
wanted to know if she was all right.

"I'm fine, pastor," she laughed. Then she said, "You know I live alone. Evidently, I passed out yesterday and when I came to, I was lying on the floor. Before pushing the lifeline switch to call for help, I decided to take inventory to see if I might have had a stroke."

"So, I pulled myself up onto the bed and began the process. I wiggled my toes and they all worked. I moved my fingers back and forth and they were all working."

"And then I began to sing. Because I knew if I could still sing, everything was all right."

Indeed.

Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds.(Psalm 149:5)

Do you still have your song? He giveth songs, you know. And not just for the sunny days.

He giveth songs in the night, in the closet, in the jail, and in the hospital room.

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.(Psalm 150:6)

In the night His song shall be with me--a prayer to the God of my life.(Psalm 42:8)

I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.(Psalm 77:6)

One of the problems in writing a blog of this type--a flaw which editors have sometimes called to my attention which makes it difficult for them to pick up these articles and run them without severe cropping--is that I have too much great material for the subject. So, we have a choice here: to make a neat little article that does the job, or to put down everything I have on the subject. My decision?

Since I'm writing for pastors and other church leaders--they are the primary target of everything here--my decision is to include it all. Then, let the teacher or preacher pick and choose what to use.

That's the reason for the remaining two items.

(I've told this previously, but if it's new to you, good.) Jack Hinton was pastoring a church in New Bern, NC that had sent a group of members on a mission trip to the Caribbean. (Hey, if you've gotta go, that's the place!) While there, their host suggested they minister at a leprosarium in Tobago. There, they talked to the lepers, many of whom were seriously deformed by this dreaded disease, and ministered to them.

The director invited them into the little chapel where the North Carolinians could lead the patients in some hymns. As they entered the room, Pastor Jack noticed that one woman did something strange: she sat on the back row, facing the rear wall.

After singing several hymns, the pastor announced they had time for one more song and did anyone have a favorite. For the first time, the woman on the back row turned around and raised her hand.

Jack Hinton found himself staring into the most hideously deformed face he had ever seen. The poor woman had no lips and no nose. And when she raised her hand, there was no hand there; just a bony nub.

She said, "Could we sing 'Count Your Many Blessings'?"

That's when the pastor lost it. Pastor Jack stood there staring at the woman, the tears welling up in his eyes. Unable to speak, he stepped out a side door and another member of the group led the song. One of the men walked outside and put his arm around the pastor.

"You'll never sing that song again, will you, Jack?"

Jack said, "Oh yes, I'll sing it. But not in the same way."

Do you still have your song? Can you still count your blessings?

Perhaps the greatest praise scripture in all the Bible is the final three verses of the prophecy of Habakkuk.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

And there be no fruit on the vines.

Though the yield of the olive should fail,

And the fields produce no food.

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,

And there be not cattle in the stalls,

Yet, I will exult in the Lord.

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength,

And He has made my feet like hinds' feet (the sure-footed mountain goat);

He causes me to walk on my high places.

He giveth songs in the night. In the closet. In the jail. In the hospital room. In the darkest, deepest, loneliest, saddest times of life.

"There's within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low."