My Help! Playlist

My thoughts have a way of running away from me. Though I like to think of myself as generally even-keeled, there are moments when I'm suddenly sucked into a cesspool of anxiety, self-pity, or resentment. I try to speak sense to myself, but sometimes my emotions' case seems watertight.

The thing is, I know intellectually that the lies I'm believing in those moments are just that - lies - even if there's a valid reason to be sad or disappointed or uncertain. I don't need my thoughts stuck on replay, looping and snowballing around the offending event or situation. I need to shift my attention to a bigger story. But at times, I need help to do so.

That's why I made this Help! playlist last fall. I compiled the songs that have most frequently reminded me, "This thing that's bothering you? It is NOT the whole story." In the moments when I'm gripped by negativity, these songs come in and say, "Hey, step outside with me. Let's get some fresh air." They're not all happy - some are laments, like Enter the Worship Circle's "Never Again." But instead of indulging in despair, they remind me to lay my concerns before my Almighty God.

It's gotten a lot of playtime lately. Sometimes when I'm studying, I put on the playlist preemptively to let truth flow through my thoughts. That was the case one night last week when I got a phone call out of the blue that threw me into an emotional whirlwind. After talking with this person and trying to encourage her, I came back to my laptop and resumed listening, still feeling shaken. It was in the middle of Kari Jobe's "Come to Me." I realized the effect it'd had in preparing me to be a calm presence for this caller. I instantly shared the link to it with her.

Nearly all these songs have words. The instrumental exception, "From the Ground Up," is from a soundtrack I love, "Many Beautiful Things," by Sleeping at Last. The true story told in the documentary - of an English woman who gives up a blossoming art career to serve God in North Africa - fits beautifully with this intricate, hopeful piece. I love the whole album, especially as study music, but this is my favorite track. It's the kind of song I'd consider walking down the aisle to, but because the film is about a single missionary, I know I don't have to wait for a wedding to appropriate this song for myself.

A few months ago, I searched for Sleeping at Last on YouTube and realized that in their original form, the soundtrack songs actually had vocals. I like the originals too, but they almost feel like meeting the child or spouse of a dear friend - a wonderful addition, and it's fun to watch them interact, but they rob some intimacy from the conversation. They're not about to join this playlist.

Here's a sampling from my Help! playlist. (When I had multiple songs by one artist, I just picked my favorite.) What songs would be on yours?

All Sons and Daughters - Oh How I Need You
Andrew Peterson - In the Night My Hope Lives On
Audrey Assad - I Shall Not Want
Casting Crowns - Who Am I
Enter the Worship Circle - Never Again
Fernando Ortega - Give Me Jesus
Gungor - Higher
Jadon Lavik - Take My Life
Jars of Clay - Thou Lovely Source of True Delight
Jeremy Riddle - Surrendered in Praise
Jon Foreman - The House of God Forever
Josh Garrels - Farther Along
Kari Jobe - Come to Me
Keith and Kristyn Getty - Still, My Soul, Be Still
Kristian Stanfill - Jesus Paid It All
Rend Collective - Immeasurably More
Rich Mullins - That Where I Am
Sara Groves - When the Saints
Sleeping at Last - From the Ground Up
Sovereign Grace - I Come Running