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Sabbatical Soundtrack 

Somewhere along this sabbatical road I started to realize something unexpected. God had been making  me a soundtrack for my journey.

I didn’t plan it. The songs just seemed to find me. They all spoke into this journey I’ve been on. 

Let me tell you about a few of the songs on this God-compiled playlist. Maybe they’ll speak to you, too.

  1. “Roll Me Away” – Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

“Gotta keep rollin', gotta keep ridin'Keep searchin' 'til I find what's right…”

I was standing at Niagara Falls when this song came to mind. It’s about someone who doesn’t know what to do next, so he rides west, searching for something deeper. That moment hit me that Niagara Falls had been the start of my very first westward journey. The one where I became a Christian. Years later, Chris and I were there again when she was pregnant with our daughter. And here I was now, again at another crossroads, looking for meaning in the second half of my life. 

  1. “Here I Go Again ’87” – Whitesnake

“Though I keep searching for an answer, I never seem to find what I’m looking for…”

It’s about not knowing exactly where you’re going, but pressing on anyway because you do know where you’ve been. That’s the kind of sabbatical I’ve been on: a walk into the unknown, but with God as my compass.

This song was stuck in my head while hiking at Niagara Falls. I came off the trail into this off season tourist area where everything was shut down. And from a lone, tinny speaker, this exact song was playing. There wasn’t another person in the whole place. I just laughed. It was like God was saying, “I hear you. You’re not alone.”

  1. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” – John Denver

“Almost heaven, West Virginia…”

When I arrived in Harpers Ferry to hike the Appalachian Trail, this was the song in my heart. The place was just stunning with the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River. It’s not just about West Virginia. It’s about longing for a place that feels like home. That’s what this sabbatical has been too. A journey back to what feels like home with God.

  1. “Morning Has Broken” – Cat Stevens

“Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven…”

I started my hike on the Appalachian Trail right after three days of rain had ended. Everything was vibrant green. The leaves were shining, the birds were singing. I looked up the lyrics and found it was a hymn from 1931!

  1. “I Am Light” – India.Arie

“I am not the things my family did / I am not the voices in my head…”

Driving through New York City, I heard this song for the first time. It was like this voice from heaven reminding me: You’re not your past. You’re not your ministry resumé or your wounds. You are light. Because God lives in you.

It’s a whole album about healing and knowing your true identity. But this song, in particular, reminded me that I don’t have to carry the weight of everything I’ve been or haven’t been. God sees the light in me and he’s not done with me yet.

God’s Playlist

God loves music. He moved through David’s psalms and Israel’s songs. And I believe he still does. 

Music opens the heart. And on this road, it’s been God’s way of connecting to mine.

So if you’re in a place of not knowing, of transition, of starting again, maybe listen for the soundtrack he’s giving you. You might just find that he’s already speaking.

And that you’re not walking alone.

Psalm 40:3 (NIV) “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”