Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

Being in Austin brought an extra blessing on Saturday night, because I was able to attend Danny Gokey and Mandisa’s “Rise Out of the Dark” Tour. You’ll remember them as finalists on “The American Idol” Show (seasons 8 and 5 respectively).

Especially endearing, was one of Mandisa’s dancers, Sydni Chambers, who is my kids’, Ryan and Shawntel’s god-daughter who has been professionally dancing for years and now is a lead dancer and back-up singer for Mandisa's concert tours. Of course I was proud of our sweet girl as we watched her high energy, over-the-top hip hop dancing to Mandisa’s songs -- all to the glory of God. She was incredible and I was exhausted just watching her. ;-)

Christian contemporary artists, Danny Gokey and Mandisa celebrate their life transformations since they both arose out of seasons of darkness. Their comeback stories inspire and encourage all of us with "Nothing is impossible with God!". On their latest albums, both singers share how faith helped them through some very difficult times. It was a packed out concert of great music, incredible lighting and sound, but most importantly, I sensed it was a night of healing for those who attended – including me.

In Mandisa’s case, she struggled after the death of a friend which brought on tremendous depression that came from it. Danny, as American Idol fans know, lost his wife suddenly before he auditioned for the show, and weathered career challenges after the competition was over. We were able to hang for a while with Danny and his beautiful wife that he met after the American Idol season and now they have three children, with the youngest being only 7 weeks old -- which certainly is a comeback story. We knew Danny before when he was a headliner at one of our business’ big launch event.

I must tell you how I was personally touched Saturday night. One of my favorite songs of Danny’s is “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again” and when I heard it live for the first time, I couldn't hold back the tears. It reminded me of the times when I felt like my heart had stopped beating and I was living in a place of day-to-day existence and routine – just endeavoring to make it through each day. I knew pain, heartbreak, worry, concern, fear, disappointment, sadness and wondered if I could ever face another day. Because I also knew the power of trusting in God and His great ability to heal and restore me, I reckoned with the lies of the enemy and I opened my heart to the truth of God’s promises to me like “I will never leave you or forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5; “I have loved you with an everlasting love”, Jeremiah 31:3; “If God be for you, who can be against you,” Romans 8:31, and I TOLD MY HEART TO BEAT AGAIN.

Danny Gokey told the story of a friend -- a pastor who had a Heart Surgeon that attended his church and the pastor asked if he could watch him perform a heart surgery. The day came when the heart surgery took place, and he watched the surgeon cut open the chest cavity, take the heart out and stop it from beating and repair it. Then they had to restart the heart again. But as they proceeded with the necessary procedures to start the heart back up again, the heart wouldn’t start. The doctor did something that was not typical, and started speaking to the patient, “Mrs. Johnson, we’ve repaired your heart. It’s all fixed. We’ve done all we can do. Now, I need you to tell your heart to beat again.” Shortly thereafter, her heart began to beat.

Danny went on to share how there are voices in our lives that lie to us and they tell us we’ll never be healed, we’ll never get over the loss, we’ll never forget the past, we’ll never be restored, we’ll never love again. But, like the woman who came into agreement with the doctor and his report that her heart was healed, we, too, must come into agreement with God who makes us new again, restored and healed. We just have to tell our heart to beat again, and be willing to live again because God is the healer of the broken-HEARTED and makes all things NEW (Psalm 147:3)!

Here is Danny sharing that story along with this song that means so much to me. BTW, I bought this necklace at the concert as a daily reminder – my heart is beating strong!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHRDCYnFfg