A while back, I heard an amazing story about a five-year-old boy named Michael. His mother found out that she was pregnant with a little girl and Michael was so excited. He could not wait to see his baby sister! All throughout the day he would run over to his mother’s tummy and sing to his little sister, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…” Week after week, month after month he continued to sing hundreds and hundreds of times. When it came time for his mother to go to the hospital to have the baby, there were some complications with the delivery, and the baby girl was not doing well. The doctor said there was very little chance that the baby would survive. The mom and dad, of course, were distraught and heartbroken. They took the baby to the neonatal intensive care unit. All the while, little Michael had no idea what was going on. He just kept asking, “When am I going to get to see my baby sister?”

The doctors told the parents the grim news that the baby would probably not make it through the night. The mother realized that if little Michael didn’t get to see his sister right away, he might not ever get to see her alive. Even though there were no children allowed in the intensive care unit, when the head nurse wasn’t watching, the mother snuck little Michael in, and for the first time, he got to see his baby sister. He was taken back by all the cords and tubes going in and out of her. About that time, the head nurse saw him and said, “Hey! What’s that child doing in here? That’s against our policy. He needs to leave right now.”

All of a sudden, without the mother saying a word, little Michael started singing to his baby sister once again, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.” The nurse noticed that the baby’s rapid heart rate began to slow down to normal. She said to Michael, “Keep singing!” He continued, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Michael sang for several minutes. The nurse just stood there and watched in amazement. The baby’s heart rate came back down to normal. The pale blue color in her face began to go away. Instead of being jittery and shaky, the little baby became just as calm and peaceful as could be. It was like the words from this five-year-old, big brother were releasing health, healing and wholeness into his baby sister. Long story short, against all odds, several days later the baby went home perfectly normal.

Friend, God has given us amazing power in our words. We must choose to speak life over ourselves and over the people that God has placed in our lives. If you are going through a difficult time today, know that God is still in the miracle-working business. When circumstances seem impossible, when the odds are against you, keep moving forward, keep speaking life, and most of all, just keep singing.

…Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19, NIV).