Dear Lord, Sometimes It's Hard to Sing the Songs on Zion, by Mrs. Shirley Carter

Sometimes life is so wonderful we weep for the sheer joy of it. We can all think of times we experienced such happiness and felt as though we didn't have a care in the world. Our wedding day readily comes to mind. Doesn't it? And the times we gave birth and held our baby(ies) for the very first times and felt such love and tenderness that we decided right then and there it was worth the pain after all. Right? How about all the times the Lord answered prayer our prayers and met some specific need, or the times our fellowship with Him was so sweet and precious, our hearts just overflowed with love and gratitude for all His goodness and merciful kindness to us. These are just a few of the special happy times we cherish. Aren't they?

On the other hand, life is sometimes painful too. Isn't it? We experience heartaches and tragedies. We hurt when our family and friends suffer. We hurt because of the hostile environment we live in steeped with crime and violence, hatred and injustice. Everywhere we turn people are hurting and needy. And, just as the Psalmist wept over his land (verse 1), we weep over ours. All these things that seemingly crush our spirits and rob us of the very job and abundant life that Jesus came to give us make us long for our heavenly home.

Life here is topsy turvy and subject to change. Our heavenly Father knows it all overwhelms us at times. He knows it gets difficult for us to sing the songs of Zion in this strange land. Our creator remembers our frame that we are dust and He pities us (Psalm 103:14), but it doesn't end there. He's provided us with a balm of Gilead, our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who not only saves our sin-sick souls; He helps us to deal with the ups and downs of this life and He heals our wounded spirits and broken hearts (Isaiah 61:1 and 3).

Our Saviour is touched with the feelings of our infirmities (our weaknesses and griefs - Hebrews 4:15), but He wants us to have faith in God. Our feelings change from moment to moment, from circumstance to circumstance, but our faith is anchored in an unchangeable and an all wise God. And haven't you found the more you grow in grace and the knowledge of Him the more you're able to rest assured that He's in complete control even though your circumstances might not be. His grace helps us to get through the painful times. Doesn't it? And it helps us to sing when the singing gets difficult. God's grace helps us to lay aside the sin and weight that so easily besets us and helps us to go on.

When our hearts get heavy and burdened down with the cares of this life, let's not only encourage one another, let's encourage ourselves in the Lord and refocus our attention on Him so that He can strengthen our hearts and our faith. We're going home soon. This is our blessed hope. There our songs will never be dulled or silenced by tears, pain, or sorrow. And when we see our Saviour face to face and all the beauty and splendor of heaven we'll truly be able to say, it was worth it all, after all.