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As a songwriter, my inspiration for songs comes from LIFE stories. My inspiration often comes from the things God brings me through. Darlene Zschech once said, “A song needs to be lived before it is sung”. Those are the words that ring in my heart whenever I sit to write a song. Life is not always a bed of roses and romantic sunsets, sometimes life gives us lemons. So where in LIFE do we derive inspiration for a song? Here is an example from my life that I hope inspires you to write songs out of your own walk.
At 30 years old, I have been through a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I find that in the midst of trials, the greatest songs are birthed. I was in a major car accident when I was 23 years old. Every major bone on the right side of my body was broken. I was in a hospital bed for 3 months not able to walk or move. My dad would come in every day and say, “Er, you’ve got to keep singing. You’ve got to keep worshiping”. Of course, that’s the LAST thing I wanted to hear. What kind of merciful God would allow this to happen to me? How can I keep singing on top of all of this pain?
The Psalmist David wrote in Psalm 77:1 and 6, “I cried out to God with my voice And He gave ear to me . . . I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.” I remember lying in my hospital bed during those quiet, dark moments of the night and saying, “Lord, I just can’t sing to you. I just can’t find a song”. Then I heard His voice in my spirit, “I will KEEP your SONG until you can sing it again”. Out of that time of pain, loneliness, and sorrow, the Lord birthed a song in my spirit that has lifted and touched many congregations and many lives. “My life is in the hands of the Keeper of my Song” are the first words of the chorus. Out of my pain came healing for so many others.
Many songs are birthed out of sorrow, out of those night time experiences. Be open in those times to understand that perhaps, the Lord is birthing a song in you that you would not write if not for the experience. The songs that minister to our congregation the most are the ones that come from life experiences. You can’t truly sing something unless you’ve experienced it. You can’t truly sing about the greatness of God if you haven’t experienced it.
Not all songs come out of those night seasons. The last song I wrote was the day I found out I was pregnant. The chorus is simply “Thank You Lord”. Some songs are birthed out of wonderful, happy, joyous life experiences. But it’s the song that is born out of trials that often brings the greatest testimony.
Find your song in the night as the Psalmist David did and watch how it will not only minister to your congregation, but to your own life!!
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