Better than a Hallelujah

August 19, 2013

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

            I pray God is as near and dear to your heart today as you are to His.

            Today I want to talk to you about, “Better than a Hallelujah”.  This world is full of fair-weather friends.  When everything is good, there is always someone available to celebrate with and share your joy.  But what happens when the floor falls out beneath you; when the money, the health and the faith run out?  Who do you turn to then?  The same friends who celebrated with you earlier suddenly have places to go and things to do.  You get advice like, “Suck it up”, “Pull up your bootstraps”, “Just gotta hang in there”, “Be strong”, or “man-up”.  Can you tell I’ve heard a few of these things over the years?   I’ll bet you have too.

            Not only does society push us away when we need someone most, they’ve also taught us not to turn to God during these times.  “You don’t need to burden God with your problems”, “Quit whining.  Where’s your faith?”  “You get yourself in trouble then run to God to bail you out?”, “Why would He listen to you anyway?”  Yep, we’ve heard some of these too; sometimes from our own lips.

            How does God really feel when we bring our troubled lives to Him?  Psalm 51:17 says, “A broken and contrite heart He will not despise.”  Revelation 7:17 says He shall wipe away all our tears.  But I believe God is more than just understanding and compassionate.

  I believe our cries of distress bring Him joy – not because we are in distress but because we are recognizing our need for Him and are turning to Him.  There is a song by Amy Grant whose lyrics illustrate my point perfectly.  It goes:  God loves a lullaby in a mother’s tears in the dead of night better than hallelujah sometimes.  God loves the drunkard’s cry, the soldier’s pea not to let him die better than a hallelujah sometimes.  We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody.  Beautiful the mess we are, the honest cries of a breaking heart are better than a hallelujah.  Tears of shame for what’s been done, the silence when the words won’t come are better than a hallelujah sometimes.

            Do you want to bring God joy, beloved ones?  Bring Him your grief, your troubles, your woes.  He can handle it and He won’t turn you away with empty platitudes.  To God, the honest cries of a breaking heart are better than a hallelujah.  Well said, Amy.

Turning my sorrows into His joy, Raelynn