For the Love of Love Songs
I am a hopeless romantic. According to the incredibly reliable source Urban Dictionary, hopeless romantics are “idealists, the sentimental dreamers, the imaginative and the fanciful when you get to know them. They often live with rose colored glasses on.” So, I tend to romanticize people, past and future events, and places. I like to see things in a better light - a more optimistic, nostalgic way.
Although this kind of romanticized view of life is a blessing, it can also be a little harmful. God has been showing me this with love songs, especially. Those sweet words and passionate lyrics where you can tell across the air waves that the singer is smiling while thinking about the person wrote the song about. Or those lyrics that resonate in your soul and give you butterflies. When I listen to these songs, they put me in a place of longing for something I don’t have. These love songs stir up loneliness, self-pity, or heartache. And, I hate feeling like this because it blinds me to all of the blessings and love that I have around me every day.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love love songs. It’s just that I’ve found that it’s probably not the best idea for me to be alone listening to a bunch of them in a row. However, there is nothing quite like listening to these sappy songs when I’m riding in a car with my girlfriends and we’re singing them at the top of our lungs.
Longing for a true human love is something that most people struggle with at some point. I really do enjoy being single at this point in my life, but sometimes it can be hard when I hear these beautiful love songs or see other couples acting so adorable together. I have to remind myself to focus on what is true, that even though wanting a future husband or someone to adore you is not a bad thing, I need to find my all in God.
Our God is a God that loves relationships and affection. After all, He wrote the greatest love story in the world by sending His only son to save His beloved. So, the Lord is not going to withhold love from any of His children. I do, however, need to be wise about what I am letting into my heart and how it affects my focus on trusting Him and His timing.
For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things. -Psalm 107:9
I hope some of you can relate to this and that this article helps you see the joy and beauty in your God-given life - even in those moments of loneliness or waiting. So, be glad in today! Find joy in your loving Father, who fulfills all of your needs. He shows you His love through the little things every day: like how He shines the sun warmly down on your face, or the breeze that carries that sweet fragrance of flowers. Try to be aware of all the sweet things He does for you today, instead of spending precious minutes wishing for something that will only come in God's perfect timing and in His carefully planned way.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. -Habakkuk 2:3
I heard this song "I Shall Not Want" by Audrey Assad a few years ago, and whenever I go through a time of feeling impatient on God's timing, I sing this song in my head. May these words be a source of encouragement to you in this season of your life: "I shall not want, no I shall not want, when I taste your goodness, I shall not want."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8WgHGOak1c