Every year, around my birthday, I tend to notice a recurring song on my speakers. Every year, a new song(s).
I actually don’t set out to choose it or them, they just quietly become the song. It’s one repeat in the kitchen, in the car, when I pray, at work in the office and sometimes in the quiet of my mind when I wake or I am about to fall asleep.
Looking back, I think I can almost trace my life by these songs.
When I turned 40, my song was The Story I’ll Tell by Naomi Raine. It was a season where I found myself trusting God with chapters I couldn’t yet understand. I didn’t have all the answers, but I believed one day I’d look back and see His fingerprints all over my life. I didn’t have these words back then. They just flow now as I look back and realise that’s what that song was helping me do.
At 41, it was Dependable God by Victor Thompson. That year reminded me that God’s faithfulness isn’t measured by how easy life feels. He’s dependable because that’s His nature. He doesn’t change.
At 42, Joy Is Coming by Todd Galberth became my anthem. I mean… Anthem. It didn’t cancel the difficult days but it simply reminded me that they don’t have the final word. Joy was on its way, even when I couldn’t yet see it.
Then came 43, and if I had to describe that year in one name, it would be Brandon Lake. His songs filled my days with worship. They drew my attention away from what was happening around me and back to the One who never changes. When my Spotify wrapped at the end of the year, I wasn’t surprised to find him up there as my artist of the year. He beat Morgan Wallen by a long long slide. My favourite song was Heartfelt Hallelujah. I even got the merch.
Now, as I prepare to turn 44, two songs won’t leave me alone: What a God by Seu Worship and Made for More by Bethel Music.
One fills me with awe while other fills me with expectation.
One reminds me of who God is and the other reminds me of who He created me to become.
Maybe that’s what this new year is about. Not striving for more, but responding to the God who has always been more than enough.
When I look back, I don’t remember these years by birthdays or calendars. I remember them by songs.
#23august1982
