I read Cass's last blog post where she put up a list of "breakup songs".
The last time I was in that depressed state was mostly between summer 2008 and summer 2009, but I distinctly remember disliking love songs because it reminded me of my heartache. Thankfully, it was also during that time that I started really listening to Christian radio.
I thought about the songs that I was listening to and realised that I often fluctuated between listening to sorrowful pop songs, emo trance/techno and uplifting Christian music. I realised later on that it made a real difference between which one I chose to saturate myself in for the day.
If I kept listening to Nancy Sinatra's BangBang or A Fine Frenzy's Almost Lover, I'd feel alright for a while, but then later on find myself thinking and rethinking about the past. That usually landed me in a mess of hateful and angry emotions. If I listened to Armin Van Buuren or some DJ Tiesto, I'd just end up even more depressed and empty. On the other hand, the Christian songs reminded me to forgive and to focus on following Christ, not the past. Those were the days where I smiled the most and slept the soundest.
The sad pop songs I'm sure everybody knows them... but if you are sincerely interested in listening to some encouraging stuff, I've compiled a list of 10 songs that spoke directly to me during my breakup/healing period.
If you chanced upon this blog and are currently going through a breakup of some sort, please know that the pain CAN and WILL leave if you just pursue God's will. You know where to find Him. Just pray, read His Word recorded in the Bible and go to where you'll likely find godly men and women who can minister truth into your life. It is not HIM or HER who broke your heart that is your enemy... This is not about revenge or a particular person who's hurt you in your life. It is about an emptiness you've chosen to fill with the unstable love of a human being, instead of the eternal steadfast love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I hope this list encourages you and lifts you up like it did me... so long ago now it seems...
By the way, some songs are more recent ones but they made the list because they're awesome too.
:)
The last time I was in that depressed state was mostly between summer 2008 and summer 2009, but I distinctly remember disliking love songs because it reminded me of my heartache. Thankfully, it was also during that time that I started really listening to Christian radio.
I thought about the songs that I was listening to and realised that I often fluctuated between listening to sorrowful pop songs, emo trance/techno and uplifting Christian music. I realised later on that it made a real difference between which one I chose to saturate myself in for the day.
If I kept listening to Nancy Sinatra's BangBang or A Fine Frenzy's Almost Lover, I'd feel alright for a while, but then later on find myself thinking and rethinking about the past. That usually landed me in a mess of hateful and angry emotions. If I listened to Armin Van Buuren or some DJ Tiesto, I'd just end up even more depressed and empty. On the other hand, the Christian songs reminded me to forgive and to focus on following Christ, not the past. Those were the days where I smiled the most and slept the soundest.
The sad pop songs I'm sure everybody knows them... but if you are sincerely interested in listening to some encouraging stuff, I've compiled a list of 10 songs that spoke directly to me during my breakup/healing period.
If you chanced upon this blog and are currently going through a breakup of some sort, please know that the pain CAN and WILL leave if you just pursue God's will. You know where to find Him. Just pray, read His Word recorded in the Bible and go to where you'll likely find godly men and women who can minister truth into your life. It is not HIM or HER who broke your heart that is your enemy... This is not about revenge or a particular person who's hurt you in your life. It is about an emptiness you've chosen to fill with the unstable love of a human being, instead of the eternal steadfast love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I hope this list encourages you and lifts you up like it did me... so long ago now it seems...
By the way, some songs are more recent ones but they made the list because they're awesome too.
:)
TENTH AVENUE NORTH BY YOUR SIDE
Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough? To where will you go child? Tell me where will you run? To where will you run?
Wow. When I first heard this lyric, it hit me like a bomb. It made me realise what the problem was in the first place. I was searching for love in all the wrong places! I didn't even realise that I was trying to fill a void in my heart until God revealed that to me.
CHRIS TOMLIN I WILL RISE
And I will rise when He calls my name. No more sorrow, no more pain.
I don't think it was a coincidence that this song played almost constantly on the radio each time I turned it on during summer 2008, right before the actual breakup. It was like God was promising and reminding me that I would someday come out of this extreme sorrow and pain. It seemed impossible at the time but this blog is proof that GOD, not time, heals all wounds.
JOHNNY DIAZ MORE BEAUTIFUL YOU
But I can promise you there's a man whose love is true and he'll treat you like the jewel you are... If you feel depressed with past regrets, the shameful nights hope to forget can disappear; they can all be washed away by the one who's strong can right your wrongs, can rid your fears dry all your tears and change the way you look at this big world. He will take your dark distorted view and with His light He will show you truth and again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl.
Pretty self-explanatory lyrics. Listening to this helped me to understand what kind of relationships God desires for His sheep to be in. Wholesome ones that are upheld by integrity; where husband and wife are yoked together under the authority of Jesus Christ as head of the family. That is the kind of man I want to be with- one whose love is true. And it will only be true if He's experienced true love in Christ himself.
BRITT NICOLE YOU
I've been looking for love in another's eyes, searching for water by I come up dry... Will you take this heart and make it more like You? I'm coming back to You.
Yep... another catchy song reminding me how I was looking in the wrong direction for the wrong things.
JOSH WILSON BEFORE THE MORNING
Would you dare to believe that you still have a reason to sing? 'Cause the pain that you've been feeling can't compare to the joy that's coming.
Somedays I just felt so tired of life, and then this song would come on. I first heard this song much later after my breakup but it was still relevant in lifting me up. It's nice to hear someone tell you there's incomparable joy that's coming!
TENTH AVENUE NORTH YOU ARE MORE
She says, "how did I get here? I'm not who I once was and I'm crippled by the fear that I've fallen too far to love." But don't you know who you are, what's been done for you?... You are more than the sum of your past mistakes; you've been remade.
There was a time when I felt like I could never give my heart to another person ever again. I even felt tempted to make a vow of celibacy for life; that's how ice cold my heart became. But then God reminded me that He did not remake my heart into a rock or stone. Instead He's filled its chambers with love, joy, peace and hope. I've been remade! He melted my stone-cold heart and gave me one that's alive and full of the love of the Holy Spirit.
BRANDON HEATH LOVE NEVER FAILS
Love never fails you.
This song made me think about how easily I used to throw around the phrase "I love you". If we truly loved, why then did it fail? Because it was never love to begin with... How can two people who have never personally known true love (that is the love of our Lord Jesus Christ) ever, love?
JEREMY CAMP HEALING HAND OF GOD
And I have seen the healing hand of God reaching out and mending broken hearts. Taste and see the fullness of His peace and hold on to what's being held out- the healing hand of God.
Sometimes we forget that God doesn't just heal diseases and sicknesses. He also mends broken hearts. The phrase "fullness of His peace" really sunk in when I thought about how much God has fulfilled His promise to me. It wasn't just a tiny ol' bit of peace He blessed me with. His peace is a whole, complete, Alpha and Omega kind of peace that definitely surpassed my understanding.
DAVID CROWDER BAND HOW HE LOVES
He is jealous for me. Loves like a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
That powerful image never failed to reduce me to a sobbing mess each time I heard this song. How much our Almighty God loves us! When I think about His love, everything else just seems so low and cheap compared to it. I don't know a single man besides my dad who will die for me because of His love for me. That's what true love is- that you could lay your life down for another.
BRANDON HEATH I'M NOT WHO I WAS
Well the thing I find most amazing in amazing grace, is the chance to give it out. Maybe that's what love is all about.. I wish you could see me now. I wish I could show you how I'm not who I was.
More of a post-breakup song, when I heard this I was still pretty hung up about my broken relationships. I wanted so badly to see things from Brandon Heath's matter-of-fact hey I forgive you whoop-de-doo perspective... But at that time I was still a far way off from it. Now when I listen to this song again, it gives me such a sweet sensation to see how far I've come, how much I've grown. Not only can I totally relate to this song now, I can also see the extent to which I was just so BLIND before. Thinking that I knew what love was... Psh.. What did I know!
So that ends the list.
And my night. Goodnight y'all!
Well the thing I find most amazing in amazing grace, is the chance to give it out. Maybe that's what love is all about.. I wish you could see me now. I wish I could show you how I'm not who I was.
More of a post-breakup song, when I heard this I was still pretty hung up about my broken relationships. I wanted so badly to see things from Brandon Heath's matter-of-fact hey I forgive you whoop-de-doo perspective... But at that time I was still a far way off from it. Now when I listen to this song again, it gives me such a sweet sensation to see how far I've come, how much I've grown. Not only can I totally relate to this song now, I can also see the extent to which I was just so BLIND before. Thinking that I knew what love was... Psh.. What did I know!
So that ends the list.
And my night. Goodnight y'all!
No comments:
Post a Comment