Singing in the Fire by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Psalm 137:3
For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."

Gil Beers, former editor of Christianity Today magazine, told the story of an ancestor that you may want to remember the next time family trials put you to the test.* Beers's great-great-grandmother to the eighth great was Catharine duBois.

One day in 1663 a band of Minnisink Indians swept down from the Catskill Mountains and captured Catharine and her daughter, along with several other women and children.

After 10 days, the Indians, thinking they had avoided reprisal, decided to celebrate their success by putting Catharine and her daughter to death by fire. They placed the captives on a pile of logs and lit the torch to ignite them.

Instead of screaming at her tormentors and cursing them, or God, for her plight, Catharine duBois burst into song! It was a Huguenot hymn she had learned in France, and it was based on Psalm 137:3. The Indians were so taken by her bravery and by the song itself that they demanded another, then another. And while Catharine duBois was still singing, her husband and a search party burst upon the scene and rescued her.

Don't think this story is farfetched when applied to your household just because the little "fires" you face aren't usually life threatening. There are many situations when a little singing, a little humor, can extinguish the flames of a dispute or a bit of tension in the home. In fact, parents who are habitually humming or singing at their places of work are surprisingly empowered to defuse crises and problems.

Paul and Silas knew this principle. When they were cast into prison in the city of Philippi, they prayed and sang-and an earthquake jarred them out of jail! Don't underestimate the power of song to break open downcast hearts in your home.

Prayer:
Ask God to enable you to burst into songs of praise when the challenge of the moment would seem most disheartening. *From "A Theology to Die By," Christianity Today, (February 6, 1987: 11.) Used by permission.
Discuss: Why do you think singing can have such an uplifting effect? Pull out an old hymnal and sing some songs at the dinner table tonight.

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I was very moved by this story. In fact, I remembered one of my testimonies. Every time temptations come, I always try to sing "For the joy of the LORD is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) from the song "Holy is the LORD" and it has such a great impact in my life because GOD's deliverance is upon me every time. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

GOD IS ALWAYS THERE TO RESCUE YOU!

P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens and Praise Until Something Happens)

When you feel GOD's love, OVERFLOW!