Musings on the Christ-Life, Everyday Life

 Follow You

(Leeland Mooring, Jack Mooring, Ed Cash)

You live among the least of these:

The weary and the weak.

And it would be a tragedy

For me to turn away.

All my needs You have supplied,

When I was dead You gave me life.

How could I not give it away so freely?

Use my hands, use my feet,

To make Your kingdom come.

To the corners of the earth

Until Your work is done.

'Cause faith without works is dead,

And on the cross, Your blood was shed,

So how could we not give it away so freely?

And I'll...

I'll follow You into the homes of the broken,

I'll follow You into the world.

Oh, meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God,

I'll follow You into the world.

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We've had this song, this CD for a few months now. I've sung along to this one over and over. It's beautiful and challenging and in fact over time, I became uncomfortable singing along.

Am I following Him into the homes of the broken? 

Am I following Him into the world, meeting the needs of the poor and needy?

Interesting how the Lord is double-teaming us. What I mean is that He has put this very thing - somehow relieving the suffering of the poor and needy - on our hearts and minds increasingly in recent months. How would He have us to share, to be more generous, to really meet others' needs here and far away? We are praying, seeking His will on these things, remembering that such things are not about being nice people but about being obedient to God's commands, imitating Christ's behavior, and about loving by meeting physical and spiritual needs. In other words, taking the gospel of Jesus to those who do not know Him. This part is harder. But the meeting of material needs means little without the soul being addressed as well! God, make us bold and loving witnesses to Your truth!


Reading Ann Voskamp's account (there are several posts before and after the one I've linked - all of them are excellent) of her trip to Guatemala with Compassion International has made a big impression on me. You should read what she's written. It's long, but worth taking the time.
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I have to praise the Lord here for His tender mercies. In the hubbub of new-baby-plus-school-starting, I'll confess that my thoughts and feelings weren't exactly mirroring reality, Truth. Translation: I was very much living in a not-good, overwhelmed, fearful, narrow-earth-bound focus...and just plain tired, too.


After a short conversation with a dear friend in the school parking lot on Tuesday, I'm finding my mental/emotional/spiritual footing. We were talking about some looming uncertainties in my life right now and my friend said, "Beth, just praise Him! Praise Him and tell Him that although you don't understand what He's doing, you're thankful for it and will trust Him!" 


I needed to hear that. And from such a gentle-spirited person. I knew it, but wasn't living it.


What a relief, then, to turn to praise instead of burrowing deeper inside myself, analyzing every thought and feeling, mulling over how confused and absent minded I feel, hashing out different reasons to feel guilty and ways that I think I'm failing. Ah, but turning to praise...makes me see that if I look through a straw in order to get my view of life and reality, then I'm going to see a tiny, limited circle of what's happening. And, consequently, I'm going to miss everything else going on around me, in me, in His plans!


Oh, I don't want to miss what He's doing, nor fail to enjoy these happy days of having small children. 


I'm praising Him. I'm talking to Him. He's not absentminded and forgetful like me, and this is but a short season. All is well, all is well.
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Top photo by me, just such a breathtaking cloud/sunlight scene!
Bottom photo by BB, taken with his phone! The heavens do declare His glory!
(and, sorry about the weird formatting...happens sometimes when I cut and paste info into a post)