When a Song Finds You

There are songs we choose to listen to.

Then some songs seem to find us at exactly the right moment in life.

Freedom! ’90 by George Michael came into my life through a friend named Robert.

At the time, I was wrestling with questions about my life, my faith, and my identity. Robert suggested I listen to the song. I don’t know if he realized how deeply it would affect me, but he opened a door to a conversation I needed to have with myself.

As I listened, I wasn’t really hearing George Michael.

I was hearing my own questions.

The song became a mirror.

It wasn’t telling me what to believe.

It was asking me what it meant to live honestly.

Over the months that followed, I spent a great deal of time wrestling with those questions. Some of the answers came quickly. Others took years. Some are still unfolding.

Looking back now, I realize that Robert didn’t simply recommend a song.

He gave me a moment of reflection.

God has often spoken to me through unexpected places—a book, a conversation, a movie, a hymn, the Daily Office, even a song playing through the speakers.

This was one of those moments.

Today, when I hear Freedom! ’90, I don’t hear it exactly as I did then.

The questions have changed because I have changed.

What remains is gratitude.

Gratitude for a friend who shared a song.

Gratitude for the journey that followed.

And gratitude for a God who patiently walks with us as we grow in understanding.

Sometimes the people God uses to shape our lives don’t preach a sermon.

Sometimes they simply say,

“Listen to this song.”