Hello from eSwatini, friends!
I haven’t done a post in the Sing a New Song Series in quite a while. This time is extra special because its actually for a song the I wrote in Thailand (Month 2). Hear my thoughts leading up to writing the song, take a listen, and then hear the message and meaning behind the lyrics.
Thanks for reading!
When I was in Thailand, I felt called to read through the book of Hosea. I wanted to gain a new perspective on overcoming shame because of the nature of the ministry we would likely be doing.
My preconceived idea about Red Light Districts in general was that it was one road where prostitution and sex trafficking would be rampant.
And it was.
But when I first walked the Red Light District, I thought, “This doesn’t look entirely different from Broadway in Nashville, TN. Or any other street lined with bars, for that matter.” And of course there are horrible things going on behind the scenes in the Red Light District that I couldn’t even imagine. But the same things are true of anywhere. I’m not trying to minimize the issue in Thailand, but it’s just a little bit more complicated than that. Sexual Harassment is still sexual harassment whether it comes in the form of sex trafficking or a whistle.
We’ve actually seen that a lot in eSwatini. It’s entirely legal for men to marry as many women as they want. More men ask us to marry them than actually say hello to us here. I could go on, but that’s a whole different thing…If you want a super awesome perspective on what we’ve experienced here, take a look at my teammate Adria’s blog about it! Click here to read.
Anyways…I don’t know about you, but I can’t control men.
But I can control the lies I let wash over me and take root.
I can remember my identity as a Daughter of the King.
But I’ve had people come around me and help me remember that shame is no longer an option when you’ve found freedom in the Lord. But what about the women who don’t have access to that?
As I processed through the book of Hosea, a song came to me as easily as breathing.
I remember shame from a young age. A lot girls do.
So, yes. I wrote this song for the women in Thailand. But I also wrote it for me. And maybe for you too.
In Hosea, we meet…well…Hosea. God tells him that he is to marry Gomer, a prostitute. Again and again, Gomer leaves Hosea for other men. And again and again, God tells Hosea to take Gomer back. At the heart of it, Hosea is God and Gomer is Israel. It’s a metaphor for God’s love for the Israelites. Which is in fact, a metaphor for you. Even if you aren’t an Israelite, when you choose God, He chooses you too. He grafts you into His family and makes a Holy Covenant with you. NOTHING and I mean, NOTHING can break that covenant. Just like nothing could break the covenant Hosea made to Gomer.
The first verse is actually the whole heart of the message of the song. I talk about redemption and doors of hope. But I wonder what my life would have been like if I had realized the amount of times that I was seeking love and looking for answers in all the wrong places. If I had realized that I was worth so much more than what I was getting.
But there is good news.
All of the things that I experienced when I was younger that brought me shame, He actually worked out for my good and His glory. Now I get to help invite other girls into the same freedom I received.
Verse 1:
Little girls become betrothed to lies
Little girls are left wondering why
Little girls have big stories
But our God is changing shame into glory.
Chorus:
Valleys of trouble turn to doors of hope
He’ll find you in the wilderness, at the end of your rope
I’m giving up control and I’m coming back to you
No other owners on my lips, it’s just us two.
The chorus is based on Hosea 2:14-17, not necessarily is that order. God/Hosea is talking about Israel/You/Gomer when He says:
“Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wildernesss and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor a door of Hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day, you will call me ‘my husband’ you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips, no longer will their names be invoked.”
I talked about this a bit in my redeeming love blog (click here to read), which, funny enough, was a book I read after writing this song.
The valley of Achor is translated “Valley of Trouble”. In that time, Gomer/Israel really was worshipping Baals. People would call on these other gods thinking they would help, when, in reality there was only the one true God and He was right in front of them asking if they would just simply return to Him.
Baal literally translated means “owner”. What kinds of things own you? What things do you call out for when God wants you to just call out to Him?
Verse 2:
Even now lies confuse the truth
Even now lies are taking root
What if we let this truth take root:
Believe that you are His greatest pursuit
Chorus 2:
Days of old turn into days of hope
He’ll find you in the wilderness, at the end of your rope
You’ve been found out and are still so loved
You’ve been washed clean by the blood
Even as I have found freedom, the enemy still wants to do everything he can to confuse the truth.
But what if we just held on to the fact that He has already redeemed everything we have ever done?
What if we believed the truth?
The truth that, even when we mess up, He will still pursue us?
The truth that we have been washed white as snow?
When we believe that…the enemy can’t even begin to touch us.
Bridge:
Never condemnation, only restoration
You alone can save
We are betrothed in love and compassion
And it’s only by your name.
You know what’s the best news of all?
When you lay all of these things at the foot of the cross…when you come to Him ready to remove the owners from your lips…There is only grace. His is a story of redemption and reconciliation, not condemnation. Instead of calling on the things that own you and allowing them to betroth you in lies and confusion and shame…Call upon the Lord and know that He alone can save you.
And when you call, He will answer.
“As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3
