Pressure Point

Music

If you've tuned in thus far, you know that each episode opens and closes with an original song performance by The Band | Contemporary Worship. This week's song choices celebrate the freedom offered to us when we turn to the Lord, the freedom from sin and bondage, anxiety, pain, and suffering. The songs themselves encourage us to surrender our deepest struggles to our Father. As we surrender to Him and to His will, praying and waiting for Him to move on our behalf, we find that He truly comes to our aid. He delivers and avenges us through our faithfulness to Him, because He is a faithful God who is for us, and is more than the world against us.

Music becomes a great way to stay encouraged. I can remember loving music from a very early age, and even drowning myself in all sorts of genres as an escape during my very emotionally unstable teenage years. Even now, though I am not musically inclined in the least bit, I have a deep passion and appreciation for music with strong lyrics and melodies that touch the soul. There is something about how beautifully the instruments and vocals align to create a masterpiece that can tell a story and speak to you right where you are. Music brings about a feeling, and a presence that can take you places. While this can be both good and bad, music has power to transform moments in time.

For many years, I suffered with depression, anxiety, loneliness, addiction, and the list goes on. I turned to music as an escape from the world around me, only the problem was the type of music I indulged in led me deeper into those unhealthy states. The songs I listened to seemed to feed my sadness rather than encourage me to come out of it. Although I connected with the lyrics, I realized that the places it took me were not where I wanted to be. Often times, I'd feel even worse about my situation than I had prior to listening to a certain song.

I share all of this to say that music has the power to lift heaviness off of you, given you listen to the songs that are uplifting, encouraging, and life-breathing. For example, In 2018, when my grandfather passed, I listened to "his music" all of the time as some sort of grieving coping mechanism that made me still feel close to him. The result? Constant daily crying and an inability to move on. In 2022, when my mother passed, I wanted so badly to sit and reminisce to all of her favorite songs, and I did briefly, a few times here and there, but not nearly as much as I did with my grandfather. Instead, I listened to every worship song I could think of about faith, pain, suffering, and enduring. I cried and prayed and worshipped my way through the pain, allowing God to carry and encourage me through one of the most difficult times in my life. I was still sad, yes, but I was able to continue living without becoming completely paralyzed with grief as I had years prior.

Looking Back

Looking back takes you back. Sometimes only emotionally, sometimes physically. Either way, you can't move forward by looking backward. I think most people go back to their old ways because after a little while, they get comfortable and forget why they left in the first place. They forget about the mental instability, the sleepless nights, the arguments with friends, family or spouses. They forget about the way certain things made them feel emotionally, physically, and spiritually. They forget about the overall heaviness and unhappiness that lifestyle produced. Instead, they remember only the good times they had. As Stephen said with the Israelites, of course they had some good laughs in Egypt. Of course they got married and had children. But overall, in the grand scheme of their lives in Egypt, it was full of slavery and bondage. Where God was leading them was far better than where they had been. When you look back, it's because you think what you left behind is better than what God has for you ahead.

When God is leading you forward, move forward. This does not promise an easy journey. In fact, if we've read anything from the Bible, I'd say some suffering is all but guaranteed. This is with any decision you make whether it be spiritually or physically. If you choose to turn from certain practices in order to follow the words of the Messiah, you will receive backlash from those who aren't on board. If you choose to start a new diet, your flesh will suffer from not eating the things it desires to eat. If you choose to start exercising, your body will feel sore and quite physically fight against you to keep you out of the gym. There will always be many various obstacles that jump into your path to success. The real question is, are you willing to continue to fight, to persevere through everything thrown at you in order to receive the reward of your endurance?

Quiet Quitting

Stephen goes on to speak of a new fad sweeping the workplace called "quiet quitting." The idea is that an employee does not outright quit their job, but instead becomes unplugged mentally and emotionally. They begin to do the bare minimum that the job requires. A quiet quitter can be characterized as someone who shows up but stays to themselves, not really conversing with other employees or speaking up at meetings. They focus solely on their own tasks rather than helping others or sharing the workload and vision of the company. Those who quiet quit generally do so because they feel a lack of respect, lack of advancement opportunities, or low pay. Ironically, those who quiet quit are not at all quiet, but in fact are quite loud and recognizable by their actions.

Though the term quiet quitting is relative to the workplace, it can also apply to other areas of life such as church or ministry, hobbies or activities, or even relationships. When things begin to require more of us than we're willing to put out, we tend to give up or pull back and only give the bare minimum. There is also the idea that the position we've been placed in is not valued, or just not properly understood. One who is a quiet quitter is also likely not feeling good about it, dealing with damaged self-worth and mental health.

Perhaps you've quietly quit some relationships because you don't feel as though the other person is treating you how you want to be treated. Yet, Yeshua says we are to love others as we love ourselves, not that we should love others how they love us. Maybe you've lost your fire for serving in your ministry, experiencing burnout. Or perhaps you've lost your love and passion for what you do and have quietly slipped into a place of receiving rather than giving. Either way, to be in this place is not good for your mental health, nor is it good for the health of those around you.

If you've quietly quit in some area of your life, it's important to take notice. Rather than brush it off and chalk it up to a busy schedule or put the blame on someone else, take the responsibility for where you are and how you feel, even more so, what led you to that feeling. In Revelation 2:1-7, Yeshua speaks to the church in Ephesus urging them to return to their first love and to do the works they did at first. I personally think of this Scripture often, partly because verse seven is my son's favorite Scripture, but also because of the grave reminder of what I'd forfeit by giving into the quitting mindset. "Those who endure to the end shall be saved," are the words of the Messiah who promises us eternal life given we continue to endure and overcome. These words alone encourage us to not quit on ourselves, or anyone else.

Endure

As we talk about looking back, suffering, and quitting, we also have to talk about enduring. Everyone can agree that life can be difficult, for some, more-so than others. Whether you're experiencing suffering in your mental or physical health, relationships, finances, or even legal matters, there is an end to the suffering. There is a deliverance promised to those who remain faithful, trusting, and reliant on the words of God. Where you are now, the position you're in, is exactly where you are supposed to be. Though the situation is trying, it is purposeful. It is designed to strengthen your faith and the faith of those around you. Faith must be tried in order to prove true, and with each test, your faith becomes stronger.

Throughout our years and our walk with God, we should be increasing in our endurance. With each trial that is overcome, we can face new trials knowing and fully trusting that God has brought us through the storm before, and He will do so again. Though the new trial may be harder than the last, our God is still God, and He is shaping us to be like Him. Just as the apostles in Acts 5 were beaten for the gospel but went away rejoicing to be counted worthy, let us also count it all joy when we go through trials as said in James 1:2-4. It can be very difficult to do this, especially in the thick of the battle, but the suffering will end, and our endurance will produce a reward if we continue to hold on knowing that God is for us and with us.

Something Has to Change

The "something" that has to change is how we choose to stay encouraged. Often times we may think that someone else needs to come along and inspire or motivate us, but in 1 Samuel 30:6, we see King David encourage himself in the Lord amidst his great distress. Being encouraged is not NOT suffering, but it is being empowered by the encouragement that the suffering will end, and God will answer our cries. We're so quick to run away from anything uncomfortable, not realizing that the discomfort is where growth takes place. Again, this can be applied to anything from diet to exercise, relationships, jobs, ministries, and finances. It is the pressure that produces the power. It is those make it or break it points in life that determine whether you stay the same or become something greater. Walk closely with God, undoubtedly knowing that He is for you and that you have a purpose, and your life will inevitably be transformed.

Major Takeaway: Do what is right, not what is always comfortable.

Contemporary Speaks celebrates thirty episodes of Something Has to Change with a topic that emphasizes one of the main themes of the podcast: How to Stay Encouraged. The host, Stephen, encourages the listener to endure, to continue the fight for a happy, healthy life, despite all obstacles, challenges, and sufferings we encounter along the way. Life can be difficult, no doubt, but as children of God, we can do difficult things. We can defy all that seems impossible with the help of the One who makes all things possible.

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