Let my sighs give way to songs that sing about your faithfulness
Let my pain reveal your glory as my only real rest
Let my losses show me all I truly have is you
-Satisfied in You (The Sing Team)
The first time I heard this song, I was drawn to the second line of the bridge–the line about pain. Whenever I was hurting or struggling, I knew that God’s glory would give me rest from my pain. Yet, I realized I was neglecting the other two lines–our “sighs” and “losses.”
I naturally clumped sighs and losses under the bigger umbrella of pain. But, as I continued to listen and reflect on this song, I realized that our sighs and losses are very distinct from pain, and distinct from each other. Still, in each struggle, we firmly believe that God is greater. It’s a simple but powerful truth.
Pain
Love is a universal language, but so is pain. Every human goes through some type of pain. There is the pain of heartbreak, death, financial burden, and countless more.
In the midst of our pain, it’s hard to look to God as our rest. When tears well up in our eyes and our emotions overtake us, it’s hard to believe that Christ secures us.
Then how does God give us rest in the midst of our pain? God gives us rest because Christ has already suffered the ultimate pain for us. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, He sufficiently and efficiently gave us peace. Whenever earthly struggles come, we are assured because Christ has justified and redeemed us. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:5, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
Sighs
Sighs can be associated with pain, but when I think of sighs, I think of dissatisfaction. We’ve all had moments when our parents are pestering us and all we can do is sigh. Or we’ve had those moments when we’re so bored that we just sigh. Our sighs are a sign of our dissatisfaction with life.
When we have tasted what life has to offer us, we find that it isn’t fulfilling. But, even our sighs lead us back to God. As we come to realize the dissatisfactions in our lives, God reveals his faithfulness to us.
He shows us that though our earthly desires are temporary, His steadfast love is forever. Jesus speaks to us when he tells the woman from Samaria that “whoever drinks of the water I give him will never be thirsty again” (John 4:14). When we realize that what Christ has to offer us is more satisfying than anything we can come up with, we can’t help but to “sing songs about [His] faithfulness”.
Losses
If we lose something, it means we had something to lose in the first place. When we think about loss, our minds quickly think about losing things we love. Yet, I think we feel a great sense of loss with sin as well.
Sin is terrible. We’ve all learned that at a young age. But, I think a big problem we run into is forgetting that sin often looks sweet at first glance. We like to think that all sin will feel bad. Don’t get me wrong, in the long run God’s grace will show us that our particular sin is bad and it always harms us. But, in the moment our sin looks so tempting.
When Jesus completed his work of salvation on the cross, he set us free from being slaves to sin. We were justified through his death. Still, we consistently go back to our sin and indulge in it.
Because of God’s loving mercy, he will continually take that away. We know that when we fight against our sin and when God delivers us from it, it’s good for us. Yet, we still long for it.
But, God’s promise that we are his children is stronger. That’s why when we begin to lose the things in this world we once held dear–whether that’s our old lifestyles and way of thinking, or something tangible–we can’t help but proclaim that all we have left is God. We can’t help but proclaim that God’s Word is so much sweeter than any sin or earthly temptation.
Our confession should be what the singer confesses at the end of the song:
So when I’m drowning out at sea
And all your breakers and your waves crash down on me
I’ll recall your safety scheme.
You’re the one who made the waves
And Your Son went out to suffer in my place
And to show me that I’m safe.
Why am I down?
Why so disturbed?
