Sound of Music II

Sound of Music

There is an old movie called The Sound of Music in which the story’s main character, Maria, is a nanny for a large family of kids. At one point in the action a huge thunderstorm hits scarring the children and Maria breaks out into song reminding the kids to remember their favorite things in times of fear. Part of the song goes like this:

“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling bad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.”

Paul addresses a similar idea in Philippians chapter four when he gives instructions on what to do when you’re anxious. On top of taking our requests before the Lord with prayer and petition and on top of being thankful Paul reminds us that “…whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is noble…think about such things…and the peace of God will be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9)

When the bee stings and dog bites of life come, the anxious thoughts, the worries, the disappointment, discouragements, and doubts, the response of the Christian should be to remember the truths of God’s word and the truths of His character. My dad taught me what it means to remind yourself of the truths of God. When I was in college and beginning to make some big decisions in my life he gave me a sheet of paper with verses to look up. There were verses like Joshua 1:9 that reminded me of what was true - that God was with me wherever I went. There were also verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:24 that reminded me of who God is – He is faithful! I have referred back to this list many times and have started to add verses to it myself. I have found that thinking upon these things has helped me to walk by faith and make decisions to follow God’s calling when I would have otherwise turned back out of fear.

King David in the Psalms does a great job of showing us how to be reminded of God’s truths. Psalm 13 is one example. In the first four verses David talks about feeling abandoned by God. “Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:1). Despite feeling this way, David decides to shift his focus back to the Lord in verse 5, “But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me.” David remembers who the Lord is- loving, and remembers what He has done for him- saved him. The result is that David is able to sing praises to the Lord even in the midst of his tough circumstances.

Do you want to be able to continually praise God like David did? I challenge you to make a similar list of verses that remind you of what’s true. When doubts and worries begin to creep in remember to remind yourself who God is and what He has done.