LEARNING TO MODIFY HOW WE PROCESS OUR FEELINGS: FROM THE LENS OF SOLELY SZA TO PRIMARILY PSALMS.
Spoiler Alert: I love Sza*, but we're not actually called to set up camp in our feelings and as for me and my house, I stay in my bag listening to Sza… soooooooo
In the words of the great 21st-century poet, Aubrey Graham, I feel good, sometimes I don’t. That’s right. I said it. The same woman who is calling you into Unshakeable Joy just admitted that no, not all of life is peaches and berries. And it’s true.
Unshakeable joy doesn’t mean you don’t encounter and experience rejection, hurt, shame, or guilt. Unshakeable joy is about knowing and believing that the love of God is greater than your rejection, hurt, shame, or guilt. Knowing that His love is actually enough. Knowing we were given emotions to yes, feel, but we aren’t actually called to set up camp, decorate and renovate the walls in our pit of despair.
I believe the world is a better place because of the stories we tell, and storytelling through song is especially powerful. Words are layered with pitch, repetition, chords, rhythm, and texture. Through song, complexities can be made simple and clear. Ideas can be spread to bring harmony and understanding. And then there’s dissonance — intentional tension or irregularity — to create and portray a specific mood.
I think we like the dissonance that lives outside of the context of a composition or song.
We enjoy sitting in spaces of emotional tension that need to be resolved, but we revel in taking a moment to play against the forward motion that’s necessary to progress into the next scenes and seasons in our life.
Well if I just had…
Or if he would have …
But she/he has …
We can put our hope in how well we can analyze the cards we’ve been dealt in life or we can put our hope in God. Similarly, we can change up the soundtrack of our hearts and minds when we feel ourselves leaning into comparison, insecurity, self-doubt, guilt, shame, or unworthiness.
I get it. Sometimes the spiral down feels as good as the flight.
Sometimes picking apart famous last words and irrational behavior is just as time-consuming and in turn, must be as fulfilling, as when things in that aspect of your world are clear, sunny, and with a high of 200 (IG likes, not Fahrenheit, of course). Sometimes, it’s fun to find subtweets and solidarity in Sza, comfort in Cardi, or declarations in Drake.
But like dissonance, throwing ourselves a pity party with a poppin’ playlist isn’t the solution. It may feel good in the moment, but it’s still a half step away from harmony. A half step away from the source of our hope. Don’t get comfortable in the dissonance. We have to believe and act as if harmony around the corner. I’m here to tell you, the encouragement you’re looking for comes from the word.
Ultimately, the prioritization of what you feed your soul is what you will believe about yourself. The music we listen to and replay become banners over our life. What we believe about our future or lack thereof in certain areas. So keep the playlist of your life current (conversations with friends, inner thoughts, etc). The more people who know what you are proclaiming and believe over your life, the less opportunity for you to believe and accept content that is contrary to who you are.
I love Psalms 40: 1-3, which if I paraphrase is, I waited patiently on the Lord, he heard the cries of my heart, he saw me doing life in the way I thought was best. He saw me in my deepest darkest place, and came along and set my feet on solid ground. He has given me a new song— a new outlook on life. Because of this, my life is changed and so are the others around me.
The songs you listen to, conversations you carry, and thoughts you think don’t have to be the same songs, words, or thoughts as last year, last month, or even yesterday.
You’re free.
I’m thankful for a new song, a new perspective, and a new declaration over my life. Today I choose to declare joy and victory over our lives.
What are you declaring?
*Substitute Sza with any artist or substance you seek first when your spirit is tired, your heart is broken, or you’re otherwise weary of the ways of the world.