Trading In Our Sorrows

I got a bright idea yesterday (look out!) that I was going to take a break from posting my daily reading excerpts on Sundays to bring you some of my reflections on the songs we sing in Sunday worship. To me, true praise through song occurs when I know what I'm singing about and can honestly sing the words back to God as a prayer to Him. Here I go.

Trading My Sorrows

I'm tradin' my sorrows,
I'm tradin' my shame,
I'm layin' them down for the joy of the Lord.

Psalm 30:5 says that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning". Just as the song says, we have a promise from God that our sorrows won't last forever but will be replaced by joy. I thank God for that promise, but God also requires something from us in order to fulfill His promise. We must be willing to give our sorrows and problems to Him.

"...Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus..."(NKJV Hebrews 12:1-2).

Why is it so hard for us to truly turn over our problems to a God who loves us so much that He gave His Son for us? Is it fear of change, even a good change, because we have gotten so accustomed to living in our familiar circumstances that we don't want to leave them? Is it lack of understanding of who God really is and how NOTHING of ours is too big for Him to fix? (Jer 32:17).

I pray that we all can overcome our obstacles in trading in our sorrows for God's joy. May we seek God and be able to sing with confidence the words of "Trading My Sorrows":

I am pressed but not crushed, persecuted, not abandoned; struck down but not
destroyed.
I am blessed beyond the curse, for His promise will endure
That His joy's gonna be my strength.