Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash
The candle is lit, Mozart’s strings and flutes play in the background and I sit down for a moment of rest and reflection. Its been a full month, and it seems I am only able to write once a month here on my blog. We have seasons that are fruitful and seasons where our fields lay fallow. Each season has purpose and our labor is to ask the Lord what shall we do in each of those seasons. What shall we do with the time we are given? Should we harvest, or is it time to plant? Should we till the soil and add the nutrients and minerals that will produce a better harvest next year. Should we let the field rest and restore as is God’s wisdom in caring for the land He has entrusted to us. Writing is a place of rest and creativity for me. So the field of this writing space is where I come to recharge and pour out of that rest, but, at least for this season, it is perhaps more sparse, but still there is work being done in feast or fallow.
Today, I want to share some music that has blessed me this month, and may, in turn, bless you the reader. I had never heard of Tenielle Neda before this month, and I am captivated by her music. Her songs are scripture based and come from a Reformed theology background. She is a wife, mom of two, and driver of iron ore trains in Australia - which I think is incredibly cool.
This is the music I play as I have become the chauffeur of my tweens and teens, to transport them and their friends, to drop off at track & field, music lessons, driving to and from school. I am in that season where I spend a large portion of time in my vehicle. So I must be prepared to use my time wisely, to be nurtured in my soul and mind, to learn and grow, to relax to music, and to pray. Driving time can be used for so many kingdom-minded moments. Tic Tacs, hand sanitizer, a bottle of water, a good pair of sunglasses, and a hat for bad hair days are also along for the journey!
What is My Hope? - Tenielle Neda
“And if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord…”
The Heidelberg Catechism was published in 1563 and can be summarized as “an ageless summary of an everlasting comfort.” Question 1 asks, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” The New City Catechism also asks this first question, “What is our only hope in life and death?” The answer is the basis of this song, and Scripture is the basis of this timeless answer.
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
The Heidelberg Catechism answers it this way:
That I am not my own,
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death,
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
This composition is full of emotion as it takes the listener from a minor key, asking the question of what is my hope? Even this simple question is evidence that we live in a broken and sinful world in need of restoration. The fact that we have to ask what our hope is, shows that we need hope to live in this world. It is a sacred question and one that confronts the darkness all around us, the emptiness of worldly pursuits, and the desperate need to be filled with the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in our souls. There is a sadness that accompanies this question. It is not stated, but it is there in the backdrop of our need to define what is the most important thing about our existence.
The song moves victoriously into the chorus with a triumphant major key resolution, almost a sense of rest as it guides one into the truths of Scripture, the food for our souls to be nourished by. There is an answer to the longing of our souls and it is found in the Bible, the Word of God. As a youth, I remember this verse standing out to me as I searched the Scriptures to know Yeshua more intimately. “If we live, we live to the Lord” was such a radical truth that imbedded into my soul. God was calling me to live for Him.
The words and music of this song become perfect companions for the meaning of these truths and the rest that all Scripture gives in answer to the questions we ask in this dark world, a world that is being and will be renewed and restored by King Jesus.
I pray that you are blessed by this song as much as I have been, and that it will be eine kleine nachtmusik to reflect on in a moment of quiet.