The Church teaches that God provides for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace what are called the “ordinary means of grace” – the Word, prayer, the sacraments, the church’s discipline and care of souls. These “means,” or channels of grace, strengthen our relationship to Christ and nourish our union with others in the Body of Christ. We experience the sustaining influence of these means mainly through corporate worship. Songs are also a means of grace. Songs help us nurture, bolster and express our faith. They inspire, edify, comfort and challenge us. The one song that does that superbly for me is “Until Then,” composed by Stuart Hamblen. It sums up my personal testimony – that heartaches are but stepping stones along the trail leading to our Father’s eternal Home. I get blessed every time I sing this song. My friends confirm that they too are blessed by the song’s powerful message. No matter how difficult our circumstance, Jesus is ready to give us the strength to look tragedy in the face, wipe away our tears, and sing with gusto, “Until then my heart will go on singing, until then with joy I’ll carry on – until the day God calls us home!” Get ready for a blessing as you read these words: My heart can sing when I pause to rememberA heartache here is but a stepping stoneAlong a trail that’s winding always upward,This troubled world is not my final home. But until then my heart will go on singing, Until then with joy I’ll carry onUntil the day my eyes behold the cityUntil the day God calls me home.The things of earth will dim and lose their valueIf we recall they’re borrowed for awhile; And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,Remembered there will only bring a smile. This weary world with all its toil and struggleMay take its toil of misery and strife;The soul of man is like a waiting falcon; When it’s released, it’s destined for the skies. My heart cries Yes! When the pain of heartaches tempt me to complain and give up, I recall that I can refuse to do that. There is a better way. I can sing – and go on singing, praising Jesus for my blessings and, with joy, continue to follow where He leads me. Yes, I must contend with misery and strife, but my loving Father can turn my mourning into gladness and dancing. He can create springs of living water in the desert of my hardships. I may be lonely, but I am not alone. He is with me. I can turn to Jesus and receive the strength to honor Him as long as I have breath. Hamblen’s song reminds me that I have valued too highly “the things of earth.” The older I get, the less value “things” have for me. The “toys” of men have lost their allurement. I understand better what Saint Paul meant when he wrote to the Corinthians, “So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen, for the things which are visible are temporal {just brief and fleeting}, but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable” (2 Corinthians 4:18, Amplified Bible). As the time of my departure draws near, that verse gets my attention far more than when I was a young man longing to acquire all the things I thought I needed. If we allow it, life’s heartaches will drain us of our joy, causing us to wallow in despair and disillusionment. Misery will fill the vacuum left when joy is lost. But that does not have to happen. Faith in the goodness of God can help us see our troubles as “stepping stones” on our journey to heaven. If our connection to Jesus is strong, we can stop complaining and begin singing that because “this troubled world is not my final home, my heart will go on singing!” Satan will flee from our presence when he hears us singing that, no matter what we must face, “until then with joy we’ll go on singing!”To keep your faith strong and healthy, choose a song that can be a means of grace for you, a song that expresses your core beliefs and stirs your soul with the joy of being a child of God. When the next heartache appears, unexpectedly as they always do, you will be prepared to respond by singing, “With joy, the joy of Jesus, my heart will go on singing – until God calls me home!”Glory!