Singing The Blues is Good For You

“The poor in spirit are blessed,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Those who mourn are blessed,
for they will be comforted
.
The gentle are blessed,
for they will inherit the earth.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed,
for they will be filled.
The merciful are blessed,
for they will be shown mercy.
The pure in heart are blessed,
for they will see God.
The peacemakers are blessed,
for they will be called sons of God.
Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

“You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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“I assure you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy. In that day you will not ask Me anything.

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Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit:


speaking to one another
in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,
singing and making music
from your heart to the Lord,
giving thanks always for everything
to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another
in the fear of Christ
.


-Matthew 5:3-11, John 16:20-23, Ephesians 5:15-21


Photo: Pixabay
Singing the blues is good for you.  Too many people keep their painful feelings bottled up inside.  We need to sing the blues when we feel sad.

Singing the blues is a way to express your sorrow, your disappointment, and your grief.  We need to get it out and express those feelings to our selves, to God, and to one another.  We let it out so that that we can let it go and let our selves be transformed.

When we let it out, express or share it, offer it up to God, and put it out there to others, even being honest with our selves; we become available to transformation, redemption, and healing.  It may be true that what you do not feel can not be healed.  There is a blessing in expressing.

"Blessed are those who mourn"

Blessed means happy.  But how can mourning be happy?  The happiness of blessed is that you become eligible for God's benefits.

Those who mourn are fortunate to receive God's comfort.  God wants to comfort us, which means to come along side us in our pain.  But we can only get comfort from God, or from others, when we express our mourning. our lament, or our grief.

Singing the blues is good for you, when you sing to God or have God in your song that you sing to yourself or to others.  God is our hope, our salvation, and our redeemer.  When we give it to God, we give him something from us to work with.

When we offer something to God, like sharing our sadness, our disappointments, our fears, our hurt, or our experiences of loss; we give God material to work with.  God is a covenant God who does for us as we are in covenant with him.

A covenant is an on going relationship that is a partnership.  God is the big and powerful, senior partner with us, but we are still in partnership with God, which means that the covenant relationship only works as we cooperate with God.  What I mean is that we must continually and in an ongoing basis, give God access to our hearts, our feelings, our plans, our lives.

God wants to save all of us and help us with everything, but we sometimes deny God access.  We even look away from parts of our selves and do not express them to others, denying parts of our selves to ourselves and to others.  We can have 'split off' parts of ourselves that are suffering, without help, nurture, or comfort from our selves, others, or from God; and not even be in touch with this fact.

But, life's circumstances continually bring opportunities to express the hurt, express the pain, and get in touch with the past griefs and current losses.  Singing the blues is good for you because you can heal what you can feel.  We decide what is seen so that it can be redeemed.

Complaining or grumbling or just venting, is not the same as the true blues of lamenting, grieving, and mourning.  True blues have the sound of a complaint, a grumble or grouse, and a vent.  But the difference is that is is not laced with hateful anger that is condescendingly judgmental condemnation and filled with self-righteous blaming. 

Singing the blues is good for you when you express the truth of your life, your heart, and your situation, to yourself, to God, and to others.  The goodness is the compensation or benefits that God gives you, that is opened up to you when you sing the blues.

Don't forget to collect, find, and use your benefits and compensation.  Singing the blues is not an end in itself, but opens the way for grace, healing, comfort, and communion; with God, with others, and within your self.  Singing the blues brings wholeness.

Go ahead and sing.  There may be some who don't like your song and that is ok.  When you sing, as you sing, and after singing; look for and expect the blessing.

This is a song by Neil Diamond, called Song Sung Blue, that expresses the idea that singing the blues is good for you:

Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one
Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
But when you take the blues and make a song
You sing them out again
Sing them out again
Song sung blue
Weeping like a willow
Song sung blue
Sleeping on my pillow
Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice
And before you know, start to feeling good
You simply got no choice
Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one

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