Those who know me know that music speaks to me… and in some cases, God speaks to me through music. Through lyrics.

There are some artists who seem to put into words the feelings I don’t know how to express or, at times, the feelings I didn’t know I had. Sometimes I get the sense that there’s an underlying meaning in a song that I can relate to, even if it’s not stated in the words, and my soul feels it.

Once, an artist, who later became a friend (who thankfully remains a friend today), wrote a song like this. It spoke to me about things I’d been through, things I had only whispered of to a few people and still haven’t shared with many. Carrying something alone is heavy. Carrying something heavy and quietly will eat you alive if you let it. Sometimes, carrying something heavy and quietly will eat you alive, and then it will begin to destroy everything around you as well.

That song brought some healing and relief to me every time I heard it. I told this artist about how it made me feel, and we had a conversation about it. Oddly enough, that artist had been through something eerily similar. I felt grateful to be entrusted with that story and know it was one of those moments when God stepped in and knew it was what I needed to hear–not just from a song, but from a person–at that moment in my life.

Nothing is for nothing. In my life, anyway. He has used every single thing for something good. Every tragedy, everything that’s harmed me, every tear, every mistake, every blunder. If I sit back and watch, in time, I see that He brings beauty from ashes and joy from mourning. Over and over again.

This is the kind of evolution I’ve experienced in my soul.

And sometimes, it’s through music. And sometimes, through people who are brave enough to open their mouths. And sometimes, I find that God opens mine–for someone else who needs it.