My favorite songs and what they mean to me: "Still That Girl" by Britt Nicole

Have you ever heard a song that made you feel like it was written about you? Still That Girl by Britt Nicole did that for me, I even looked her up to see if she'd ever lived in Louisiana at some point (she hadn't). Here are the lyrics:

[Intro]

Dreams, they come, plans, they change

Yeah, we're gonna break, yeah, we're gonna break

Things we face make us who we are

Baby, you're a star shinin' in the dark

Let's go back to the summer, the summer when

We dreamed in love, let's go back again

Let's go back again, yeah, back again, my friend

To the summer when

[Verse 1]

I'm holdin' a picture from seven years back

I smile at the memory, it's smilin' right back at me

And I see

Brown hair and bright eyes, such a beautiful blue

A heart full of laughter with nothin' to lose

That's how I remember you

[Chorus 1]

You were young, you were free

And you dared to believe

You could be the girl

Who could change the world

Then your life took a turn

And you fell, and it hurt

But you're still that girl

And you're gonna change this world

[Post-Chorus]

Woah-oh-oh-oh

You're still that girl (You're still that girl)

You're still that girl (You're still that girl)

Oh, woah-oh-oh-oh

You're still that girl (You're still that girl)

You're still that girl (You're still that girl)

[Verse 2]

Sometimes life don't go the way you planned

And we all have days when we just don't understand

Searchin' for meaning, it's not always easy

But your story's not over, it's still bein' told

Your sunrise is comin' brighter than gold

Let's go back again to the summer when

[Chorus 1, Post-Chorus]

[Refrain]

What if the picture is bigger than you see

And God has you right where He wants you to be?

Just listen to your heart, He's telling you with every beat

You're still that girl (still that girl, still that girl)

[Chorus 2]

You were young, you were free

And you dared to believe

You could be the girl

Who could change the world

Don't you know, don't you see

All you need is to believe

You can be that girl

And you're gonna change this world

[Post-Chorus]

[Outro]

I can see it in your eyes

I can see it in your smile

You're still that girl

You're still that girl

This one has been an especially poignant one for me over the years. The first time I ever heard this song was after Riley and I escaped my abusive ex-husband. I was experiencing PTSD, depression, and severe anxiety. I felt like I was anything but the girl I had been before the decade of abuse that I suffered. But then this song came on my radio and I started weeping.

I felt like God was talking to me, giving me a new revelation about myself and Him, and it's not the last time this happened. In the years since I heard it for the first time, anytime that I felt down about myself, inadequate, or unable to have the relationship with God that I once had, this song would pop into my head or come on the radio and it was like a new revelation every time.

I've talked about this before, but when I was a teenager, I was extremely close to God. I was almost in constant contact with Him and I truly believed that I would change the world for Him someday. But just as the song says, "(My) life took a turn and (I) fell and it hurt." But God continued to tell me through my recovery from PTSD and depression that I was still that girl and I can be so much more because of the wisdom of age and experience as well as the revelations He has given me about His heart.

My favorite part of the song is this part of the refrain, "What if the picture is bigger than you see and God has you right where He wants you to be?" It took me a long time to realize how true these words were. I have a tendency to miss the forest for the trees, or get caught up in the minutiae of day-to-day life and forget the big picture. I think we all do that sometimes. We have financial struggles, work stress, family issues, etc. that overwhelm our minds and make it hard to see the bigger picture of our purpose in God's eyes.

But He already told us what that purpose was. After His resurrection, when He was ready to ascend into Heaven, Jesus said, "...'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age,'" (Matthew 28:18-20, NASB).

Personally, I think this was less about indoctrinating the world into a specific religion or denomination and more about making disciples. So what was a disciple to Jesus? They were a person who followed Him, who was close to Him, and who made an effort to learn more about Him. He said many times throughout His time on the earth that He was a teacher, and what He taught was how to love and forgive yourself, how to love and forgive others, and especially how to know Him more.

It is my belief that our mission as children of God is not to make people feel bad about themselves and judge them for their mistakes, but to show them the true love of God and how He sees beyond those mistakes to the heart of man.

A perfect example of this is in 1 Samuel 28:7, when God was talking to Samuel about David becoming king, He said about one of David's brothers, "...'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"

All of David's brothers were big, muscular, tall men, and very impressive to look at. But David himself was a scrawny young man, much shorter and thinner than his brothers. He also tended to the sheep while his brothers went out and fought in the army of that time. When God told him David would replace Saul as king, Samuel was shocked and argued with God because surely this young, lanky boy couldn't be a real king.

How often do we do that in our own lives? We see someone who is hurting or needs help but their appearance makes us turn our faces away from them, pretending not to see rather than reaching out to help. Now I know that the world is a crazy place and there are tons of horror stories about people being hurt or killed for their efforts to help someone in need, so I'm not saying we shouldn't be cautious.

But I believe that if a person pops in your mind suddenly or if you see someone is hurting and you feel the urge to help, you shouldn't stand in fear or doubt about that. It's likely God trying to tell you to help them. You shouldn't fight with God like Samuel because of their appearance (and I mean that in physical or mental terms).

Instead, you should call the person that pops in your head or pray for them even if you don't know why. For the person that is hurting, you should give them a shoulder to cry on or check in with them to see how they are doing. Even a bum on the side of the road, if God moves you to help them then you should reject that fear, trust that God will protect you, and help them in some way.

I'm not saying I don't understand those feelings of fear and doubt. God talks to us in all sorts of ways and I hope that I have shown that in this blog, but the one way that is often the hardest to believe is that still, small voice in our heads telling us what is right and what is wrong.

In my time living in the hell of an abusive lifestyle, I listened for that voice quite often. Sometimes I got things wrong and mistook my own voice for His. That was my mistake because I wanted to hear Him so bad that I would make things up and believe them as gospel truth. So, please don't believe everything you hear, listen to your heart and trust your gut, but still open your ears to His words.

Because I have allowed myself to do that, to listen to my heart instead of my head, I hear His voice more and more often. This morning I was woken to the sound of a knock, like someone was at my door, but no one was. However, I noticed that this song was playing in my head non-stop even though I hadn't heard it in a while.

Because I have learned how to open my ears to God, I knew that He was knocking on my door and saying it's time to make this post. It's not the first time He has knocked on the door of my heart and given me a word to share, so I know it's Him and I obey, and that's what we all should do.

How many times has He knocked on your door and you've turned Him away or ignored Him completely, pretending you're not at home? Because He's always talking to us, we just have to listen and learn to discern what is Him and what is not. Once we are able to do that, we can much more easily be the person God wants us to be, learn more about His heart, and show the world who He truly is.

Even if you've made mistakes, fallen away from Him, or rejected Him altogether, He's still standing beside you, waiting for you to listen to Him speak. You can still be that girl (or boy) and so very much more.