THERE IS POWER IN YOUR PRAISE. Sometimes, you just need to sing. Especially when there are roadblocks. Even if that roadblock is a cow.
Yes, this is a true story. And it does star a cow.
Imagine with me, if you will, being on an old, run-down bus in South America. You and a small group of missionaries are driving up a winding mountain trail through the Andes Mountains in Venezuela. On one side of the bus is a fairly shallow mountainside with wildflowers, tropical trees and some rocks. On the other side of the bus is a foot of road and the most steep, rocky, non-fenced drop that you have ever seen! We were thousands of yards up the mountain with no barrier between us and the cliff side.
The bus driver was a lovely elderly Venezuelan man who only spoke Spanish. It was a "day off" for us missionaries, and he was driving us up to a secluded ancient chapel on top of the mountains for a bit of a sight-seeing day. Most of us were Americans who had never been in the Andes Mountains before, and although we were overcome by the beauty of what we were seeing through the bus window we were also terrified at the speed the man was driving this old bus down these borderless mountain roads.
I will never forget the moment the bus fishtailed off the cliff (yes, you read that right) - I was sitting in the back of the bus, alone with my thoughts and Jesus, and the entire back end of the bus skidded off the cliff and back on in a matter of seconds. It was one of the most frightening 5-10 seconds of my life.
The bus driver had come to a very fast stop because as he rounded a corner of the mountain, he saw that there was actually a COW standing in the middle of the path!
Once we all were able to catch our breath and slow our heart-rates down, we realized that the old bus driver had actually just saved our lives. It seemed that a random dairy cow had come down from the mountains to eat wildflowers from the side of the mountain. The cow was hidden from sight around the corner of the mountain, and unbeknownst to us, it was blocking the only road to and from our destination. The moment the driver saw it he hit his brakes and although our backside skidded off the mountain, we (and the cow) were still alive!
After a few failed attempts to make the cow move by blowing the horn and revving the engine, the elderly driver got out of the bus and walked over to the cow. The cow was utterly committed to eating every single flower on that ridge, so even a physical push or pull was not affecting it. There was no way for us to reverse or go around, so it felt as if we'd be stuck there until the cow decided it was full and moved along. But the old man was determined.
What happened next was utterly unforgettable. The driver forcibly grabbed the cow by the face, looked deep into its eyes....and he sang to the cow. He began to sing at the top of his lungs a beautiful Spanish love song with such great passion and grandiose that we all on the bus were gob smacked! The cow was enchanted by the man's song so it stopped its eating to listen, and then it did the unthinkable. The cow walked back up into the mountain. The little man's song pushed the cow off the path, and we were able to continue our trip up the mountain.
There are so many lessons in this!!!
Out of interest, I Googled how many times the Bible says to "sing." I read that we are asked 250+ times to sing! I have not done this page-by-page research for myself, but I don't think that this would not be true. Most of these references are probably in the Psalms, but I know that we can see it elsewhere.
I feel like God is reminding me to SING when there are roadblocks. When it feels like I am stuck, I need to SING. When it feels like I'm about to crash, I need to SING. When I feel like I'm unable to move because of fear and my destination seems so far off, I MUST sing.
Isaiah 54 calls the barren woman to SING. The Psalms call the people of God (in all circumstances) to SING. Ephesians calls the Christian to sing. Colossians says we dig deep when we sing. We make WAR when we sing. We encourage ourselves and one another when we sing.
I believe that our song is so important during this season. Whether I can carry a tune or not is of no consequence. All that matters is that I am lifting up Praise and using my voice to shift the roadblocks that are keeping me from my destination. Loud, passionate love songs sung to my Father cannot be comprehended by the enemy because he cannot speak the language of Heaven (which is love, praise, joy and hope).
There is so much power in our Praise. We cannot allow the enemy to keep us silent, especially when we feel stuck. Singing isn't just a good idea, it's something God has asked us to do.
So sing your heart out, and know that your destination is no longer hindered!
Thanks to lovethispic.com and Pinterest for this photo