Blessings, Take off Your Disguise

            One of my favorite Christian songs is “Blessings” by Laura Story. I think the chorus pretty much sums up what the song is about. Listen to it here.

            The song is about how sometimes the most difficult parts of our lives might really just be God’s blessings in disguise. Like the chorus says, the raindrops, tears, sleepless nights, and trials might really be blessings in disguise and that’s why we can’t see them.

             I want to take that one step further.

I think any blessing in general can seem like it’s in disguise if I’m going through a tough time. If I’m having a good day, for example, I’ll be more aware of all of the good things in my life. If I’m having a bad day, though, all of a sudden all I can see are the bad things and not the good.

            The perfect example would be comparing how I am now to when I was depressed. When I was depressed, I was blinded. I couldn’t see any of the blessings I had. My family, friends, school, job, etc. seemed like nothing to me, perhaps even more of a burden.

            Now, all I can see are my supportive family and friends, my great education at my school, my job that will look great on my resume for when I’m older, etc. I am so thankful for all of these blessings that I know so many people unfortunately don’t have.

            What changed, then?

            It wasn’t the blessings that were different. I still have every single blessing now that I had when I was depressed. It was me. My depression wouldn’t let me see what I still had. All of the blessings I had seemed like they were disguised as trials, but they weren’t really. I was the one, subconsciously, giving these blessings a disguise.

            Personally, whenever things are going well in my life, I’m extremely grateful for all of the blessings I have. When things are not going so well, I become blinded and suddenly every blessing seems like it’s gone. When things start to go well again, though, the disguise comes right off and I am grateful for all I have again.

            I honestly wish I didn’t do that.

            From now on, I think I’m going to try something. Every time my life seems to be full of nothing but problems, I’m going to take a minute and think about all of the blessings I still have in my life. If I can’t see them, maybe it’s because I’ve given them a disguise they don’t deserve.

            I’ll just ask God to help me see through the disguises to find His blessings. I know they’ll always be there if I look hard enough.

My Top 5 Favorite Christian Music Groups (Different Genres)

            If there’s anything else I love, almost as much as writing, it’s music. Personally, I like music from all sorts of genres. I’ve found songs I like from hip-hop to rock, opera to classical, pop to metal, jazz to country, etc.

What I’ve come to realize, though, is that the only thing that makes me not like a song is the lyrics. As a writer, I pay a lot of attention to the words of a song and though I may enjoy the rhythm, beat, skill, voice, etc., of a song, I find it difficult to listen to some music because of the words.

            That’s what’s so wonderful about Christian music, though. I don’t have to worry about a song having a catchy beat, but ugly words, because I already know what the lyrics will be about. God!

            Because of this, I decided to find Christian music from different genres and over the years, I’ve found quite a few. My friends always like when I introduce them to new types of Christian music, so I decided to make a list of my top five favorite Christian music groups, from different genres of Christian music, for anyone interested. I recommend each of them to check out!

5) Stryper (Favorite song: “Soldiers Under Command”)

            This group has been around for a while, but I still like them. They’re a Christian metal band and the only metal I listen to. I admire the skill it takes to play, but I find it hard to listen to a lot of metal because of the lyrics. This group has some powerful music, though, with strong Christian messages and they helped me find the entire Christian metal genre. I’ve only heard a few songs by them, but I sure plan on listening to more.

4) Capital Kings (Favorite song: “You’ll Never Be Alone,” Remix: “Carol of the Bells [Dubstep]”)

            These guys, though, are relatively new. I only found them myself last year, but they sparked my interest immediately. They’re difficult to label with a specific genre, but they’re somewhere around pop, electronic, hip-hop, dance, and dubstep. Yes, Christian dubstep. They even do remixes of popular Christian songs. I like them because they give a fresh way of looking at Christian music. Although there are some songs I find a little repetitive, they definitely have something new working for them that caught my attention.

3) Group 1 Crew (First and favorite song: “Keys to the Kingdom”)

            From the first song I heard from this group, I fell for them. They’re a Christian hip-hop band, but occasionally they throw in a little rock too and somehow, it works. The first song I heard by them was actually one of those hip-hop/rock mix songs that hooked me. Each of their songs has a great beat and beautiful lyrics and range from fun to meaningful. I’ve yet to find a song by them I don’t like.

2) Hillsong United (Favorite English song: “One Way,” Spanish: “Tomalo”)

            This group is more of the popular contemporary Christian rock kind of band, but that doesn’t make me like them any less. Their songs are perfect for worship, beautiful and meaningful, while still being fun to sing along with, bob my head to and just rock out. They even have songs in Spanish, which I find extremely cool. I love their music and they’re definitely a band I want to see in concert someday.  

1) BarlowGirl (Favorite song: “Psalm 73 [My God’s Enough]”)

            This was the first band that really brought me into the Christian music world and therefore, they got the number one spot. My dad bought me their CD when I was a preteen and ever since, I’ve loved them. They’re an all-girl Christian rock band with songs ranging from fun, catchy and nice to inspiring, meaningful and powerful. Years later, I still remember the words to almost every song. They may not be as well known as some other famous Christian bands, but to me they’ll always be my favorite.

What are your favorite Christian music groups? If you have a suggestion, please be sure to comment. Like I mentioned before, I'm always looking for new Christian music to listen to!