Music and The Comforter of My Soul

Artwork by Kim Harms

I have no idea how it works. I’m a mediocre singer. I took piano lessons for five years and the only thing I can play is the first several measures of Could’ve Been by Tiffany.

But somehow, when God created music, He made a salve for the human soul.

My 10-year-old sings himself to sleep each night. His sweet sweet voice is a daily reminder of beauty from ashes. Of a miscarriage and many months of grieving and waiting followed by the gift of Lewis. My little man has no idea, but his voice is a soul-soothing touch from my Savior.

I’m a word person. I love shaping them through my fingertips and putting them together like a puzzle. But even with the amount of time I spend in the word world, I’m still amazed that just a few simple words appropriately placed along a musical scale can take an ache and turn it into worship.

I’ve had some aches over the past couple of years, and I’ve found that once you enter the cancer world you never really leave it. The aches will continue to come. Often unexpectedly. Sometimes in the diagnosis of a friend. Sometimes in the glimpse in the mirror that reminds you your body will never again be normal. Sometimes in the irrational fear that the new weird pain is cancer come back.

Whatever it is, I live with aches. I’m sure you do too. Cancer or no cancer, we all have our pain.

But we also all have this beautiful thing called music.

Like I said, I have no idea how it works. I just know it does.

And this morning, the lyrics and melody of this song moved me from sadness to worship. From fear to trust. From ache to adoration. And I realized that I needed this song for this day. Maybe you need it today too.

 

MOVEMENTS – Rend Collective
I wanna soar with You
Upon wings like eagles
But I’ll crawl with You too
When the dark and lonely questions come
I wanna stand true
No matter what’s new or comes through
I can’t stand still
Whatever hits I’ll keep making movements to You (woo)
I’m running fast and free to You
‘Cause You are the movement and fight in me
I’m running fast and free to You
‘Cause You are my home where I wanna be
Come move in me
Where I wanna be, come move in me
Come on everybody!
I wanna float with you
The currents driving me
But I’ll paddle hard too
When the waves and rapids overcome
I wanna stand firm
When my mind’s weak and my emotions squirm
I must stand true
Whatever hits I’ll keep making movements to You
I’m running fast and free to You
‘Cause You

 

By KimHarms

Kim Harms is an author, speaker, and part-time library assistant with two decades of freelance writing experience. She has a degree in English from Iowa State University. She and her husband Corey have three super-awesome sons and one crazy dog. A two-time breast cancer survivor, her first book, Life Reconstructed: Navigating the World of Mastectomies and Breast Reconstruction (Familius), is a guide for women walking the breast cancer road. She is currently working on her second book, a devotional for women going through breast cancer.

2 comments

  1. I couldn’t agree with you more, Kim. The Lord often uses music to usher me into His presence. It moves me in a way few other things do. What a glorious blessing!

    1. I had my 6 month cancer check up yesterday. Lots of hard memories flood my mind on those days. It was all clear 🙂 and I can’t say that I was terribly worried. But those days are just a little heavy, and the music helps my heart feel better.

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