Voice Lessons

“Inspirational,” . . . “like a choir of angels,” . . . “a true instrument,” . . . “bravo!”. . . “it brought me to tears,” . . . these are words people never – ever – say to me when I sing. How I have longed to have a voice like Julie Andrews, or Diana Krall, or even Cher. But alas, when I raise my voice in song it lands with a dull thud. I have been told by those who know such things that I might be tone-deaf. Meaning I can’t hear or reach the notes and tones necessary to sound like anything other than a barn owl.

Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t stop me from singing. I just make sure my audience is small, me, and the venue comfortable and safe, my car and/or shower.

Perhaps because I can’t sing I find being in the presence of someone who can a true joy. My sister-in-law is not a professional singer but she can at any moment break into song and it sounds like heaven. No musical instruments or back-up singers required. She is constantly singing to my new nephew. He will be a bit sad and she out of nowhere begins to sing him a lullaby, and one she made up at that. He will quiet almost immediately. The smile it brings across his face when he hears his mother sing lights up the world.

Ahh, to be able to do that will remain but a dream for me. Although I have accepted my fate and know my singing will never light up a room, at least not in a good way, and that I will never go on a concert tour, that doesn’t mean I will remain silent. I cannot sing but I do have a voice.

The past few years have been a difficult journey for me. I lost my voice. Actually, I lost my job but in today’s world they are the same thing. Or so it would seem.

It turns out that my job is not the same thing as my voice. I am not what I do for a living, not even close. But when I lost the job, my voice – and heart – seemed to pack up and head for the hills. It was as if the world told me that without my job I had nothing to say that it wanted to hear. That my contributions were not valuable. That is a lie and one I no longer accept.

I have a voice and God wants to hear it.

God has given each one of us a voice. A voice that is true, unique and distinctly our own. No two voices are the same. That is why it is so important that we use our voices, because we are each a part of the puzzle. When one of us doesn’t use our voice then the whole symphony is off just a bit. Like Beethoven’s Fifth without the violins. So when we lose it, it is important that we get it back.

We find our voice by finding our heart. We find our heart by discovering what makes it sing. Perhaps your heart is in gardening, or in educating our next generation. Perhaps your heart sings when look through the lens of a camera or argue a case in court. Maybe your heart soars when you help heal the sick or give your time to the less fortunate. There are those whose heart beats a little faster when crunching numbers and building spreadsheets. Still others become truly alive when serving others, either from behind a bar or in the military. Spending time raising your children may get all your cylinders going. Or maybe you are never more awake than when walking on the beach.

Our job and our heart are not the same thing. It is a blessing when they overlap, but most often they do not. Whatever it is that makes our hearts come alive, it is vital for us to find it. It is from where our voice and strength comes. It is the expression of our purpose. But life has a way of stealing those things that matter and camouflaging our purpose. So it’s a good thing we don’t have to find our voices on our own.

Scripture tells us that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and fix our wounds. (Ps. 147:3, Is. 61) Jesus came not just to save us and get us to heaven, but to restore us. (Ps. 23:3). To restore something is to put it back like it formerly was. God wants our hearts restored to how they were when he conceived of us and created us. I can’t even imagine what that really looks or feels like. If you are like me, your heart is wounded and far from being the heart it should be. Some heavy restoration is needed. But that is exactly what Jesus came to do.

And He will, if we let Him. All we have to do is ask, and our restoration and voice lessons will begin.

Finding and regaining our voice can be a daunting task if it were left up to us. But thank Heaven its not. We have a voice coach who is with us every step of the way, fine tuning us, restoring us until our instrument is as perfect as the day it was made.

I cannot sing, but I do have a voice. And when it is fully tuned, watch out, I just might go on tour.
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