by Ginny Owens
What people are saying about …
Singing in the Dark
“Make time for this worthy read! You will be blessed by Ginny’s transparency and raw honesty. Much more than a book about her own road, though, Ginny roots Singing in the Dark in the grand narrative of Scripture, humbly and confidently turning our eyes toward our Redeemer. With a beautifully measured blend of testimony and Scripture, Ginny becomes more than a songwriter, singer, and theology student—she becomes a trusted companion on the journey.”
Kelly Minter, Bible teacher, author of Finding God Faithful
“With gentleness and vulnerability, Ginny Owens leads us into an exploration of the songs of the Bible. Few things speak to me from Scripture more than the expressions of deep longings, joy, and pain expressed by so many of the real human souls we meet there. I’m captivated by Ginny’s ability to bring these passages to life by bridging to her own life. Who better than Ginny Owens to teach us all how to sing in the dark?”
Michael W. Smith, singer and songwriter
“While we might not know what it is like to live in the darkness of physical blindness like Ginny does, we all know what it is like to find ourselves living in other kinds of darkness—the darkness of disappointment, disillusionment, and difficulty. So what does it take to learn to sing the Lord’s song in the dark? Ginny shows us. Blending her voice with the voices of people we meet in the Bible, Ginny helps us find our own voices to sing hope in the dark.”
Nancy Guthrie, author of God Does His Best Work with Empty
“Ginny’s music has been singing into my own personal darkness for over twenty years now. After my wife died of cancer, Ginny took words from Melissa’s journal and turned them into the song ‘If You Want Me To.’ To this day, every time I hear it, I feel a very emotional and powerful connection. Ginny’s heart flows through her music and her words, and I know Singing in the Dark will bless you.”
Jeremy Camp, artist
“Ginny’s masterful storytelling, personal transparency, and poetical exegesis help us revel in the hope we have, recover the hope we’ve lost, and lead image-bearers who feel completely bereft of hope toward the unconditional love and hope of Jesus Christ. This is more than a must-read; it’s a literary keepsake!”
Lisa Harper, author, Bible teacher, speaker, women’s ministry leader
“We often forget that God is not only fully present with us, but He sings over us with joy. Ginny’s new book has deeply inspired me to sing a song back to Him. When we’re hurting, lonely, or overwhelmed by His goodness, He wants to hear from us. You don’t have to be a singer or a songwriter to put words to your story as an offering to God. Ginny writes in an honest, accessible way. Reading this book felt like a scenic walk with an old friend. Highly recommend it!”
Susie Larson, talk radio host, national speaker, author of Prevail
“In Singing in the Dark one of my favorite songwriters listens to some of the most important songs of the Bible and engages, resonates, and responds—and in the process encourages us to do the same. I’ve been waiting a long time for Ginny Owens to write a book, and Singing in the Dark goes beyond what I was hoping for.”
Michael Card, Bible teacher, songwriter
Ginny Owens
SINGING IN THE DARK
Finding Hope in the Songs of Scripture
SINGING IN THE DARK
Published by David C Cook
4050 Lee Vance Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.
Integrity Music Limited, a Division of David C Cook
Brighton, East Sussex BN1 2RE, England
The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.
The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved; HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, copyright © 1999, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers; NHEB are taken from the New Heart English Bible. (Public Domain.) www.nheb.net; NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide; NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved; NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number 2020951248
ISBN 978-0-8307-8187-4
eISBN 978-0-8307-8188-1
© 2021 Ginny Owens
The Team: Susan McPherson, Jeff Gerke, Judy Gillispie, Kayla Fenstermaker, Jon Middel, Susan Murdock
Cover Design: Jon Middel
Cover Photo: Getty Images
First Edition 2021
To parents, Bible teachers, youth leaders, small group leaders, pastors, and all who work to instill a love of Scripture in the hearts and minds of those you serve. Thank you for all you do. Never lose heart on your mission, no matter how dark things seem.
To my fellow travelers on the journey to love and understand Scripture more fully, I pray that, in some small way, this book moves you to hear its music more deeply.
To those who live amidst daily darkness, I pray that as you read these pages, God will speak light into your heart, in the ways only He can.
Contents
Foreword by Christy Nockels
Before You Begin by Joni Eareckson Tada
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Song of Undivided Praise
Chapter 2: A Song for the Plodding Path
Chapter 3: A Song of Victory
Chapter 4: A Song of Strength
Chapter 5: A Song of Rest
Chapter 6: A Lament for the Misoriented Life
Chapter 7: God’s Song of Justice and Mercy
Chapter 8: A Lament for the Broken World
Chapter 9: A Song of Inner Peace
Chapter 10: Singing in the Light
Acknowledgments
Notes
Foreword
I met Ginny Owens more than twenty years ago when she and I were label mates on Rocketown Records. We became fast friends, probably because both of us were newbies to life on tour and, most of the time, the only two women on a bus full of men. An experience like this will bond you, as it becomes imperative that you have each other’s back as women. I guess it’s pretty ironic, then, that our most bonding moment as friends—hands down—has to be the time I accidentally caused Ginny to fall down a terribly steep flight of stairs!
She and I had just completed our life-on-tour bedtime routine in the women’s restroom of whatever church or venue we had called home that day. We were extra chatty that night as we briskly headed to the bus that would carry us, while we
slept, to the next place we’d call home for the day. And then it happened. I got about two steps in, down that monstrous flight of stairs, and Ginny started to tumble. Head over heels, down she went and there was nothing I could do to stop her! Terrified that I had caused serious injury to my friend, I raced down after her, grateful that I could hear her talking to me and see her moving all her limbs. One of the tour managers helped me get her onto the bus and started tending to her wounds as I sat next to her apologizing over and over:
“Ginny! I’m so sorry! I forgot you were blind!”
It’s the honest truth. In fact, I forget that Ginny is blind a lot of the time. I can remember a few times even elbowing her in the side to say, “Ginny, look!” before I even realized what I was saying. Or when I’d drop her off in her hotel room on tour, I’d flip on the lights for her before I’d leave. She’d hear the click of the light switch and smile her cheeky grin and say, “Thanks!”
But this was no excuse—I should never have let this happen; I was her wingman for crying out loud! If she was Frodo, I was her Sam in those days, and she was counting on me. All I could think about was when you’re given the very important task of guiding a blind person, not only should you stay aware of the fact that she is blind, but you most certainly need to give her a heads-up that you are about to head down a flight of stairs!
“It’s okay. I love that you forget I’m blind,” Ginny said. There she was, comforting me while having gravel tweezed out of her busted-up knees.
The way I look at it, Ginny’s physical eyes may not work the way mine do, but I assure you, she sees. In fact, I think she’s developed some “Spidey sense” over the years, almost a sixth sense when it comes to what’s going on around her. Ginny has spent most of her life in physical darkness and has endured some very trying seasons that she’s been open to sharing in this book. But it’s clear to me that God intended all along for a spiritual sight to develop in Ginny’s heart, one that would birth songs of surrender, hope, and freedom—and not just in her own life but in the lives of others.
I believe this is what God has in mind for all of us as we walk through darkness, brokenness, and difficult seasons. I believe He will even use the most trying hardships of our lives to heighten our senses to the nearness of His presence. In fact, I’ve learned that we can even begin to look at the “hurry up and wait” and the “things didn’t go as planned” seasons of our lives as an invitation. One that encourages us to set the eyes of our hearts on Jesus, especially when we cannot see or fathom in the natural how He’s going to come through for us. With our gaze lifted to Him, we’re able to see Him for who He truly is. And like my friend Matt Redman often says as he leads worship, when we see, we sing. When we truly encounter God with the eyes of our hearts—especially in the dark—we cannot help but sing!
It makes me think of Paul and Silas, in Acts 16, when they shook the walls of their prison cell with praise. The passage clearly states that they began to worship around midnight. I’ve heard it said that maybe their praise arose because it was pitch dark in their prison cell. Think about it: they couldn’t see the iron bars or the shackles that bound them; all they could see was a God of hope and freedom, and they surrendered to His song.
I realize that while this sounds inspiring, it might also sound too good to be true—to think that you and I could learn to sing through trials, hardships, and the darkness this world throws at us at every turn. I’ll tell you this: Ginny is lovingly transparent in this book as she shares what I believe is the key to truly learning to sing in the dark. It’s not about our developing an inner strength to keep us going or a hustle that has us trudging and gritting our teeth through the dark. It’s about trusting God, even surrendering to His lead, as He’s the only One we can truly trust to guide us in every season. In fact, I believe this is why God responds and even acts on our behalf when we surrender. He too trusts only Himself—not us or anyone else—to faithfully lead us.
His Word tells us in 2 Chronicles 16:9, “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (NIV). I like to imagine Him on the edge of His seat, looking for those who might lock eyes with Him—especially in the darkest seasons of our soul—that we might begin to sing of who He is, even coming to know Him as the God who sees and sings too (Zeph. 3:17).
You know what’s really beautiful? As you learn to sing in every season, your song will begin to bellow out beyond just a melody coming from your mouth. Your life will begin to sing! Beloved, this is why God wants to teach you to sing in the dark: that the songs that form in you might begin to pour out from you, bringing joy, freedom, and hope everywhere you go.
Christy Nockels
2020
Before You Begin
I am at heart a painter. Give me a smooth canvas and a palette with oils, and I lose myself in composition and color. Rural landscapes are my thing, especially ones that draw the viewer down a winding country road or along fields of wheat that disappear into a long, endless blue. To paint is to breathe. It is my way of expressing how the world moves me and touches my heart.
I cannot hold brushes, though. Decades ago, I broke my neck in a diving accident and lost the use of my hands. But I did not lose my artistic bent, a talent I absorbed from my artist father. Although I cannot pick up a brush with my fingers, I am able to clench one between my teeth—I swirl oils across a canvas in a way that’s different from most artists.
This has made me a better painter. It’s made me think more. Spend more time reflecting. It has also driven ideas deeper into my heart, where, over time, they settle and simmer. They linger long there until they surface, bright, beautiful, and demanding to be painted. I love when that happens. It makes for great renderings.
The same is true for my friend Ginny Owens. She also paints, but with music and lyrics. Like me, she lost an important physical ability—her blind eyes cannot guide her fingers across the seven octaves on a piano. But I have a feeling her blindness helps her think and reflect more until the music surfaces from her soul and spills out onto the keys, demanding to be played. I bet she loves when that happens. Yes, Ginny sings and writes in a way that is different from most artists.
And it makes for great music. I should know. Over the years, the songs of Ginny Owens have provided the musical background to my life of loss. I listen to the smooth way she slides through her own powerful lyrics, and I sense, Here’s a woman who understands suffering. And those hardships have helped her embrace a sweeter intimacy with the Savior. In this way, Ginny encourages me to sing through my own times of darkness, of walking through the valley when He asks us to.
I think you can see why Ginny’s songs have meant so much to me. Most likely you will never break your neck or walk through the world blind. But to borrow the words of Jesus, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33 NIV). You will experience loss. It’s why I’m so glad you are holding in your hands Ginny’s latest work, Singing in the Dark.
This book is the best of guides as our friend steps away from her piano and pours out her creativity on paper, describing how God led her through her own dark seasons of suffering. Ginny shares how God sang to her, soothing her troubled soul with His own music from Scripture. Here is a gifted communicator who will help you learn how to sing your way through the night and out into brighter days filled with sunlit hope.
So pour a cup of your favorite coffee, get comfortable, flip the page, and get to know a fresh side of Ginny Owens. Keep a pen handy, for like any disciplined artist, she will ask you to put your own creativity to work at the end of each chapter. Take her up on it. Be brave. It’ll make you think and reflect more. Let your ideas go deep and linger long until they surface and spill out onto the page, expressing how the world moves you. How Jesus touches your heart. How God leads you in your nighttime of loss.
You’ll love it when that happens. Great things like that always happen when you learn to sing in the dark.
Joni Eareckson Tada
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Joni and Friends International Disability Center
2020
Introduction
I was a senior in college when I first witnessed music bringing light into darkness. I was student teaching, learning to overcome my shyness and lack of stature to manage choir and piano classes at a large, multi-ethnic public high school in Nashville, Tennessee. I hoped to wow the world (or at least my supervising teacher) with my choral conducting skills.
But when I wasn’t in class, I didn’t spend my time passionately practicing our pieces for the coming months. Instead, I wrote my own songs, many of them about my students. My mind was full of the stories they’d confided in me, and songwriting was how I sorted out what I’d say to them if I got the chance.
I never wanted them to know I was a songwriter, though. My melodic musings weren’t nearly as brilliant as the masterfully crafted pieces by Rachmaninoff that I was teaching the madrigal singers or the deep, dark, history-laden spirituals that the concert choir was learning.
Everything changed in my last week of student teaching. A friend kindly dropped by the classroom to give me a ride home at the end of the day, and after I coerced some of my kids into singing for her, she asked which of my own songs I had played for them. They had not, of course, heard anything I’d written.
I felt mortified—both that my friend had opened this door and at the students’ ensuing insistence that I play something. After some protest, I figured we could all go home if I just got it over with.
And so, with my fingers shakily settling onto the piano keys and my voice sounding small and shy, I sang:
Angry words are spoken
And the pain cuts deeper than a knife …
But all the angry words you’ve ever heard can melt away …
All because of His love and what He did that day.