Adriel's Music Notes

This site is dedicated to chronicling my music writing journey. Posts include personal thoughts, stories behind songs with links to listen and download these songs for free.

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2016 Word of the Year

January 18, 2016 by Adriel 3 Comments

Psalm 51 10Hello, friends and Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is going well for you all so far. I’m looking forward to what this year has in store for you and for me … I know God is going to do good stuff in all our lives! =)

Back at the beginning of 2014, out of the blue, before I even knew that having a “word of the year” was actually a real “thing”, God spoke the word “wait” over my year. And so I waited. I didn’t know what exactly I was waiting for, but waiting was a huge part of my year. It was a character quality that I had to learn a lot about that year, especially in regard to my health, and it wasn’t until the end of that year that I began to see the fruit of waiting. It was definitely worth it. =)

The following year, 2015, I was so excited about the word God put on my heart for the new year: hope. I was walking in the clouds and then reality hit and I must tell you that 2015 was one of the hardest years I’ve experienced. I felt more hopeless than I’d ever felt before and I kept looking for the hope, searching for it, and I couldn’t find it. The thing is, I was looking for it in the wrong places instead of in my Savior. Again, it wasn’t until close to the end of that year at my church’s Women’s Retreat that I finally was able to let go of what I’d been holding on to and hold on to the hope I’d been desperately looking for.

Following retreat, I recognized as I went home that I would need to be extra diligent to not fall back into old patterns of thinking and be faithful to walk in the truth and stand strong against lies I had believed. I knew that I would need a resolute spirit. So as 2016 began, I was not surprised when my word for 2016 was revealed: steadfast.

Steadfast – to be firm, be stable, be established

I thought the weeks following retreat were challenging, but as soon as I knew my word and the new year began, I came under a barrage of missiles from different directions. I can’t tell you how many times the word “steadfast” has echoed in my heart and mind in just the few short weeks of this new year. I have found myself very disheartened, discouraged, in tears, broken-hearted, realizing that I’m not strong enough for what I am facing on my own. I have been noticing more and more that my battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness. I have had to make an effort to recognize that my enemy is not a person, but is the devil himself. And so with that knowledge, I have stood my ground and fought on my knees, praying scripture, and asking God to please help me. I am in the middle of a spiritual battle and giving up is not an option. But I am very tired and part of me would like to just give up and not fight any more.

I loved yesterday’s devotion from Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. It ministered to and encouraged my heart more than I can say and I thought it might encourage someone else:

“Elisha said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. —2 Kings 6:17

This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, “Lord, open our eyes that we may see;” for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God’s horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all the events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a “chariot” for our souls. Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we so consider them. It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God. —Smith”

Boy, did that help me get a proper perspective on what I’m experiencing right now! These difficult places can be places of glorious victory, but so much of it depends upon me and how I look at things. Will I look upon them as God’s chariots and horses of deliverance with a definite victory in the future, or will I just get bowled over with defeat and discouragement by the Juggernaut?

Juggernaut! Haha! I love that word! Sometimes you find vocabulary gems in old writings! I actually looked this word up, because I’d never heard it used before. In my defense, it is primarily a British word, and this devotional was put together over 100 years ago. ;)

Juggernaut – a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path

Yup. That explains a lot. :P

I’m hoping it will not take this whole entire new year for my heart to develop this steadfast spirit that I am lacking in currently. I hope that this character trait is something that develops more and more in my heart this year and is something that I grow and mature in and see progress in as the year continues. Please keep me in your prayers if you think of me, friends! May your new year bring you closer to Jesus and deeper in love with Him! =)

Learning to be STEADFAST,
Adriel

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When a Door Opens…

October 26, 2015 by Adriel 2 Comments

…it doesn’t necessarily mean you should walk through it.

Say what?!

I know. That’s the opposite of what we’ve been told, right? If a door opens, you walk through it! Actually, you should run! No questions asked. No hesitation. No delay. Because you never know when the door will close. Hurry up! Get on through that door…

Whoa, hang on! Actually, that’s not true. I believe open doors are sometimes put in our lives to test us. Open doors don’t necessarily HAVE to be entered nor intended for us to enter. There are times when entering that open door may very well be a very bad step in the wrong direction. Some doors mysteriously open on their own, almost in a way to swallow you whole. Can anyone relate to this sensation?

open door photo adriel hong

Why am I even talking about this??

Various opportunities come along that range from humble requests to spectacular propositions. I had one of the latter offered to me last year and almost immediately, I knew it wasn’t God’s will for me. Now getting my heart to agree and not yearn after something not meant for me is another story, but I digress. When I relayed this situation to one of my songwriting friends, she asked me how I knew that particular open door wasn’t God’s will for me. It was a fair question, because in all honesty, the offer was something that dreams are made of. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t been tempting. It sure was. And that’s why I was so glad I knew God’s will for me, because as much as my flesh wanted that dream, I wanted God’s best for me more and whenever I thought about the amazing opportunity, the peace of God would disappear … poof … like a magic trick with that puff of smoke.

And that’s one of the ways I knew it wasn’t God’s will. That perfect peace that settles and quiets us, the peace that makes us feel secure … that peace would always leave when I contemplated walking through that open door. My husband felt somewhat unsettled as well and you don’t have to be married long to understand that God gives us a partner to help us make those difficult decisions when we, ourselves, may not be the most objective. He had some questions that I hadn’t thought to ask and points that helped me look more objectively at the whole thing. I also sought the counsel of another trusted songwriting friend and his advice confirmed what I already knew in my heart to be true. No. This open door wasn’t for me.

And I’m in good company, because another songwriting friend whom I highly value and admire was presented with a tremendous offer (a producer, a label, the works!!), but she prayed about it for three days and at the end of the day, didn’t walk through that open door either. But God is opening something else up for her that is, in my opinion, even more amazing, simply because He is doing it and the story behind it is incredible.

“Foresight will protect you. Understanding will guide you.” Prov. 2:11

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Col. 3:15

Trust the built in alarm that is called “peace” when you’re faced with an open door. If it’s going off with a blaring warning and your heart is not settled, don’t take one step toward that door! Trust the people God has placed in your life who give you wise counsel. They have foresight that you might not have, simply because you just don’t see the bigger picture at the moment. You’re too caught up in the sight of the amazing open door to your dreams, but those wise people see details that present caution, because they’re looking at the door and all the ramifications it contains objectively, not with eyes full of stars like you might be. I’m thankful for the special people in my life who know my dreams, but aren’t afraid to tell me that a certain open door is simply not for me.

flowers psalm 84 11 For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is rightSometimes we don’t understand God’s answer, sometimes His answers go against our reasoning, our deepest desires. But we can trust that God is our Dad and loves us more than we even know. If God is saying “no” to an open door in front of us, we can rest knowing that God knows what is on the other side and that it’s not His best for us. He’s not keeping us from something to punish us, but because He LOVES us. =)

Learning to rest in God’s will,
Adriel

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I'm Adriel Hong and I am a child of God and believer in Jesus Christ. I'm also a wife, a homeschool mom, and a Christian singer/songwriter.

I'd like to welcome you to my music notes, a little corner of cyberspace where I share my songwriting journey, which includes free music, stories behind the songs, personal testimonies, music videos, and my musings. I pray that God would bless you and encourage you through this site and the songs that I am privileged to write down for Him. Check out my blog posts, listen to music, watch a video, or just poke around to make your own discoveries! Thanks for visiting and have a very blessed day! =)

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