I Serve A Savior: A 12-Day Devotional By Josh TurnerSample

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

*An excerpt from Man Stuff, p.94

“Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

I grew up playing sports and working on the farm and doing all kinds of things outdoors. So you’d think I’d have a history of broken arms and legs and wrists and ribs and toes. But that’s not the case. The injuries I’ve sustained have predominantly been from the neck up.

My war wounds have included my sister hitting me in the head with a brick and me chipping my teeth as my jaws clamped together when our school bus hit a pothole. Then there was the time I flipped over my bicycle handlebars while at Grandmama’s house and broke my jaw. Then I got whiplash after a horse I was riding got spooked and bolted, I got my nose broken in a basketball game, and then there was a recent diagnosis of spinal stenosis. That’s just a sampling of my injuries!

Somebody might think that was just a lot of bad luck. But I believe all those injuries and the rest were strategic attempts by the enemy to stop me from singing, from using my God-given talents here on earth. Each of those injuries has affected my voice and my singing. And most all of them have dulled my spirit as well. If I were a baseball pitcher and the enemy wanted to take me out, I could see getting injuries to my hands or eyesight. If I were a track star, I would expect the attacks to be aimed at my feet and legs. But I’m not either of those. I’m a singer, so injuries from the neck up are, in my opinion, much more than coincidence. They are evidence that we live this life opposed, that we have an enemy, and that we need to live alert. Don’t give the devil too much credit but do recognize when he’s trying to keep you from doing what God has called you to. 

For Reflection: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - Live From Gaither Studios