Look What The Lord has done
Psalm 126:1-3
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
When I think about the trajectory of my life, all I can say is this little phrase; “Look what the Lord has done.” If you’re from a charismatic background like I am, you might remember an old school song by the same name. I remember people singing that song many times, often late into the night, remembering how God had lifted them up from the depths of despair into the joy of His presence.
For me, the best songs are in the shower. Every time I’m in there, I find a song. I don't just sing in the shower, I try to write songs in there. That’s been a part of my life for years (my family is cool with it). Most of these songs never make it out of my house but God just uses them for my own heart. On one particular morning, as I got ready for work, I just started singing… “Look what the Lord has done. Look how he brought me out...” I sang the whole chorus out, over and over in one shower and then I sang it into my phone once I was dry. For the next several weeks, I’d sing that chorus in my car and I’d cry. I’d sing it around the house and God would move my heart. I started to wonder if it was more than just a song for the day, but a song for always. Had I stumbled onto a song that said exactly how I feel about my life?
A testimony is a very powerful thing. What could be better than a personal story to transfer the heart and truth of an experience. For both the listener and the speaker, a testimony of God’s faithfulness holds within it power to encourage and inspire. It’s why Psalm 126 and so many others like it recall the works of the Lord. It helps people see what God has done in others and gives them faith to credit God for his works in their own life. The whole of the Bible is a testimony of God’s redemptive power through Jesus.
My story is a monument to close calls and near misses. The “what if’s” could have easily given me a life of disaster, loss, disappointment and failure. But I’m not who I used to be. God has made me a miracle by his grace and I look at my life not based on “what if”, but “what is”. I say “look what the Lord has done.” Not what I’ve done, but all he’s done to bless, correct, love, redeem and provide for me. A description of my life cannot be said any other way and I am so grateful. Grateful that whatever ruins I made on my own, Jesus has redeemed and rebuilt them into a testimony of his goodness.
A couple months later I sang out that chorus, I was scheduled to write with Emily Weeks and Lindsay Mattingly. I brought up my little chorus and asked if they thought it could use some verses and become a song we’d sing at church. After singing over it a couple times we all agreed to give it a shot and wrote the verses together. I’m so proud of how it came together and all that God is still doing in my life and the life of our church.