Always Reminded

Every time I prepare to leave the States for the next mission, God seems to remind me of the basics. He does it in the way only a Father can. Because He knows his children well, He’s able to use just the right method for that particular time. Most of the time it is much more gently than we think He’d be. It is always amazing, but seldom easy.

A few months ago, I was reminded about the need to pray and fast before a trip. God allowed us to go into the same financial struggle that many have experienced as of late. April and I responded by pushing away the plate, not because we couldn’t buy food…but because we needed direction, a clear movement, and provision. Within just days the provision was there, and He gently reminded me of something I teach my own students but had forgotten for this trip. He reminded me of the hold that Hell had upon the people in the region where I was headed. I had been doing this stuff so long that I was taking it a little too lightly. I was going to the front lines of some major spiritual battles for the souls of that particular place. God used finances that time to remind me to push away the plate, seek His direction, presence, and provision for that mission, as I had been doing for the finances to get to that mission.

I hope that I remember and apply that lesson for a good long time…It was none too comfortable, if you know what I mean!

Well this time, God sent a gentle reminder concerning the bigger picture of what we, as Christians, “do.” He sent it through some good ol’ country gospel singing, or should I say, sayngin. I found a CD of one of my old favorites as a child at one of the book stores, and bought it a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of all the reasons I started being a missionary in the first place. No, it was not a new song; and yes, I long to sing a new song of praise to God as the poet King David declared.

I can’t tell you that any of those songs took me to the wonderful place of worship where I find myself in His presence in a way that drowns out all the negativity and pain this world has to offer, leaving me in the sheer light of His presence. It often takes a new song, sung to the Great King of Kings who deserves a new sonnet to be scribed every second to do something like that. No, the moment that God sent to me had different intentions. These songs brought me back to a time where I remember hearing not only the song, but the message of the Savior for the first time. I remember what my heart felt when it discovered the forgiveness, the hope and the love of a God, I now call Father.

It did remind me of my first works. It reminded me of the way I felt the first day I met Jesus. It reminded me that “they” need to have a song, a moment to remember when they first met our incredible savior. It will be a different but similar song sung in another language. It will be new to them, and old to the next generation. But, it will declare in their heart what some of these old songs declared in mine.

I can’t wait to sing a new song with other siblings in the faith next week on a day of worship. That new song will be an old song in 10 years and will remind me of what God did for me way back when. But today, I remember through some old sweet songs, my first works…the sweetness of a Savior who left Heaven to pay a horrible price for my healing and forgiveness. I am fed with a new strength for my next mission oversees. A memory of the reason I do what I do.