Posted on by jamie

Singing worship songs in weird places

Ever had a song pop in your head at random times and in weird places?

About a month ago I had a tube put in my left ear in an effort to help with the pressure and problems I’ve had with my Eustachian Tube. (It didn’t help, but that’s a whole other story.) I was quite nervous leading up to it, even though it was a simple outpatient procedure. I’m not a fan of needles or scalpels or surgery of any kind, no matter how simple.

They put me in the chair and dropped some crazy drops in that numbed everything. I sat there with my head cocked to the side, half hearing the jokes my husband was telling to make me feel better. A couple minutes after that, the doctor came in, grabbed his instruments and talked me through each step of what he was doing, while I tried not to think too much about what he was doing.

He suctioned the numbing drops out, then grabbed the scalpel and went to work. Knowing there was a sharp object heading for my eardrum made me panic slightly, no matter how tiny it might have been. It literally only took five minutes to do the whole thing. There was no pain, just a weird sense of pressure when he made the incision. Still, I was nervous and ready to be done.

While I was lying cockeyed in that chair, staring at the fluorescent lighting and ceiling tiles, a line from a worship song popped in my head. Just one line, over and over in my head. Thinking back on it, I can’t recall what song it was, or what the line even said. I tried to recall it 20 minutes after the procedure and couldn’t remember. But in that moment of slight panic, I silently sang that line over and over. Perhaps it was a plea to God to get me out alive (I’m a bit melodramatic some days) or maybe it was God bringing me something to  calm my nerves. I don’t know why it popped in my head and stayed there while that scalpel was aimed at my eardrum, but it did.

Funny, isn’t it? I don’t really like worship songs, yet a worship song was the first thing that came to mind in a moment of stress. I could have had any song pop in my head, but that song (what was that song???) was the one that came to mind that day.

I’m thankful that it did.

I’m curious; what do you do (subconsciously or not) in a moment of stress? Prayer? A comforting line of Scripture? Or are you like me and sing some random song?

19 Replies to “Singing worship songs in weird places”

  3. I do have some songs and sometimes a portion of a verse come to mind. Usually the stress only lets fragments be thrown around in my head.

    I have always thought dentist and doctors should spend more time decorating their ceilings.

      1. My orthodontist DID decorate their ceiling when I was a teen – it was awesome. Everytime someone got their braces off, they could decorate part of a ceiling tile – looking up from the chairs it was like a mural!

  7. Hey, Jamie – new commenter here! Love your blog – excited to dive in more and read some of your past posts!

    When I was having an emergency c-section with my first son last year, I remember being scared, and on edge. Before they let my husband into the OR, I sent up a quick prayer for God to calm my heart…a few moments later someone started singing “In Christ Alone” very softly and it spoke directly to my heart – giving me peace and comfort. I thanked God for whoever was singing that lovely melody…then, my surgeon’s head popped over the curtain and he said, “You have such a lovely singing voice, Alle!”

    Snort! Yeah…I was definitely so drugged up I didn’t even know it was ME singing.

  8. Yes! – I’m glad it’s not just me – random worship songs always popping into my head – usually only one or two lines and I often find them meaningful to situations or calming in times of stress. Thank you Bx

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