Streams of Mercy

This year’s Church Family Christmas Program at Jackson Springs Presbyterian had a memorable grand finale! As the program came to the close with the choir singing “O What a Glorious Night,” folks were beginning to stand for the closing prayer, when a young guitarist in our congregation stood in place and began strumming “Joy to the World”; next came the sound one playing the same tune on a banjo from the balcony; then a member on the back row stood and added her violin to the mix, then came flute, then piano, then organ – and finally everyone stood and joined in singing to the accompaniment of all the instruments! Joy to the World!

I was reminded of a song I heard several years ago – “Symphony”, by SWITCH, a group of worship leaders in Life Church, based in Edmond, Oklahoma. As they were working on songs for worship, they began sharing stories of what they’d been hearing and what they’d been facing personally. Themes arose, and one of those themes was that everyone has gone through some type of chaos in their lives, whether it be unemployment, family issues, marriage distress, difficulty raising kids – everybody has experienced some kind of chaos in their lives. They wanted to write a song that could be a prayer for people to sing in the middle of those circumstances. “Even in the madness there is peace,” they wrote, “God is always at work in the middle of our difficulties.”

The song they wrote became “Symphony.” Symphony represents God’s role in the life of the believer. When all the individual melodies just don’t make sense, in the context of a symphony, when everything is moving together, you can hear and see the masterpiece, and that’s when everything makes sense. God is always doing something bigger and crafting something beautiful. We can all become something bigger than ourselves, and be a part of something more that God is doing. May these words be a gift to our hearts this Christmas:

“Even in the madness there is peace;

Drowning out the voices all around me.

Through all of this chaos,

You are writing a symphony,

a symphony.

Tune my heart to your beat,

Let me be your melody.

Even when I cannot see

What you’re orchestrating;

Even when the dark surrounds,

You’ll never let me down,

I know that my hope is found

in the name of Jesus

You say You’re working everything for my good.

And I believe every word;

all around me through all of this chaos,

you are writing a symphony.”

Merry Christmas!

Elizabeth