STORY BEHIND THE SONG 
"All Things Beautiful"
Words & Music by Shelly E. Johnson
www.shellyejohnson.com

It seems everywhere I turn, I hear stories that break my heart.  

Stories that cause me to stop in my tracks, shake my head in disbelief, and ask, “What?”  

I quit watching the news a long time ago because, frankly, I just couldn’t handle it.  So much suffering in the world.  A world God intended to be so perfectly beautiful.  

Horrible things happen to us and those around us, and when we try to reconcile these horrific events in light of the loving and all-powerful God, we are simply left shaking our heads, with nothing to say other than, “Why?”

This song is my response to that heart-wrenching, desperate question.  The question with an answer that has eluded so many, sadly, causing them to run in the opposite direction of the very One who can carry them through the fires and floods in their lives.

I don’t know why God allows fires and floods.  I don’t know how He can just stand by, do nothing and watch a mother lose her child.  These matters are too overwhelming for me to wrap my mind around.  

I do know that when Adam & Eve sinned, the curse of sin entered the perfect world God created, and that curse reaches to the molecular level into the deepest part of all creation – there is nothing in the universe un-affected by the fall.  That explains “why” terrible things happen.

But, there’s still the question, “If God is loving and all-powerful, why doesn’t He do something about it?”

It is by asking this question that we can drive ourselves crazy, trying to settle this in our minds. 

But, thanks be to God!  It’s not my place to understand His divine, mysterious and perfect plan.  All I know is that He promises to work all things together for good for those who are faithful to Him.

So, when things don’t seem to be working together for good, when we fear the fires will consume us and the floodwaters overtake us, what is our response?

Sing.

How beautiful is the soul who finds a song to sing, despite the pain and suffering.  How beautiful is the heart that chooses to praise the One who although shields our eyes from understanding “why?”, is the very One who will one day redeem, restore, renew and, finally once and for all, make all things beautiful!

“I will sing to the LORD because He is good to me”.
Psalm 13:6
