It was the day I married the love of my life. I was excited, nervous, anxious, grateful...and a thousand other words could be used to describe what I was feeling.
Yet, when Marcy walked down the aisle, I was speechless. It was a good thing that I didn't have to say anything because I couldn't have said anything. I felt more love, more gratitude, more joy than I had ever known, but I don't think I would have been capable of actually saying anything. If you have been married, you know exactly what I mean.
I often feel the same emotion in times of worship with my church family...today was one of them. As we were singing "He Will Hold Me Fast", I watched some of our choir members singing. One lady was singing about trusting in God and yesterday was the anniversary of the day her baby boy was both born and died. Another lady was singing about hoping in the Lord and her uncle had passed away just a few hours earlier from a heart attack. A man was singing in the choir about his Savior's love and yesterday was the anniversary of his mother dying in a tragic accident.
As I watched these faithful friends of mine singing, I felt speechless. Even though we were singing a song, I still felt the words -- rich as they were -- to be inadequate. The faith-building that takes place when you see people expressing their sincere trust in the Lord, even in the midst of heartache and pain, is beyond words. Today in worship was much like my wedding day when I first saw Marcy...I felt so much more than I could articulate.
It reminds me of a song that came out in 1992 while I was in college entitled, "Listen to Our Hearts." The chorus says, "Listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing, a song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed. We will use the words we know to tell You what an awesome God You are. But, words are not enough to tell You of our love, so listen to our hearts." You can listen to the song at the top of this devotional.
Isn't it great to know that even when we don't have the words to express our love for the Lord, He can listen to our hearts. Even when words fail us, our God knows our thoughts. So, as the song says, we will use the words we know to express our love for the Lord. But, since our words are not enough to tell Him of our love, we rejoice that He knows our hearts. Other times, our pain is so great, we cannot even speak. And even then, He can listen to our hearts. As Romans 8:26 says, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." So, whether you are too excited to speak, or too burdened for words, our God knows your heart, and hears perfectly, even the words you cannot say.