Called and Chosen - the Song

A few days before the camp meeting last April 2016, amid the flurry of preparations, God gave me the words that would become the lyrics to our theme song. The camp meeting's theme was FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS, with a special focus on the call to labor for the Lord in these last days. This song talks about God's faithfulness and wisdom shown since the Plan of Redemption was set in motion, and how today we have not just a special appointment but also a special provision. Indeed, all His biddings are enablings.

A sister in the church is also especially endowed with the gift of music, and she made the music for this song in one night. Since the camp meeting, I have made a couple of changes to the lyrics to make the grammar a little better and the message clearer. The lyrics below are the final version. I have included an MP4 recording of the song while we were learning it in its first version for the first time. The kids at church very quickly learned the music and lyrics and had a grand time singing it. Hoping to post a polished version soon. Meanwhile, may you be blessed by the message of this song.

CALLED AND CHOSEN

Your eyes pierce the future;

From the start You see the end.

The scrolls are unrav’lling,

In history I trace Your hand.

Your arm raised up workers

Just according to Your plan.

For a time such as this,

You call me and here I am.

You have called, I will answer.

I’ve been chosen; I will go

Wherever You lead me

So that others, too, might know

That my Jesus – He is coming

To take His children home.

I’ve been called, I’ve been chosen,

By Your Spirit I will go.

Everywhere You’ve brought me

I have seen Your faithfulness.

I trust provision has been made for me

For such as time as this.

Your arm raised up workers

Just according to Your plan.

For a time such as this,

You call me and here I am.

You have called, I will answer.

I’ve been chosen; I will go

Wherever You lead me

So that others, too, might know

That my Jesus – He is coming

To take His children home.

I’ve been called, I’ve been chosen,

By Your Spirit I will go.

You have called, I will answer.

I’ve been chosen; I will go,

Walk the path of the faithful,

Die to self, and live for You.

For my Jesus – He is coming

To take me home to You.

I’ve been called, I’ve been chosen,

By Your Spirit I will go.

I’ve been called, I’ve been chosen,

By Your Spirit I will go.

God be praised.

Israel and I

Free me as You have freed them
From sin and self and shame.
Lead me as You have led them
Through the Red Sea once again.
Feed me as You have fed them
With manna day after day.
Show me as You have shown them
The bitter shall sweet be made.
Till I reach some sweet morning
The gates of Canaan land,
Teach me as You have taught them -
Till like You I at last become.

2/18/2015

March to the Water

Does it seem like obeying God is like following a cloud - something uncertain, something you cannot understand, something that might make the situation worse? Does it seem like "against the cloud" is the better, wiser, more practical, maybe even only way to go? Read on; you're not the first one.

It must have been a horror. Right when they thought they were on their way to a freer, better life, they find their enemies after them, an army prepared for battle. There must have been frantic cries, mothers gathering their children, fathers trying to secure a weapon out of the common household items they carried, and a general cry to their leader, "What now?"

"Run, quickly!" Someone must have cried. But where? There was only the Red Sea in front of them, and nowhere else. 

Behind them death by the sword, before them death by drowning. Oh how they must have regretted seeking for freedom, how they must have thought that anything was better than this, anything - even a lifetime of bondage for themselves and all their children after them.

Why had they left in the first place? And why had they come through here in the second? They followed a cloud. A cloud, of all things!

But suddenly, the cloud moves between them and their enemies. And their leader stretched out his hand toward... the sea?! Okay? drowning, then? 

Yet he looked confident, peaceful. Perhaps it's alright. He has received instruction: "Go forward!" 

Alright. To the water!

How terrible it must have felt! And what a wonder it must have been! When as they moved toward the water that under normal circumstances would have swallowed them by the millions, the water parted before them, making a path of dry land for their feet.

And when they all - millions of them - have passed through the parted sea, and their enemies came after them, the water closed right back in. The trouble before has swallowed whole the trouble behind.

A miracle.

When I face the trials of tomorrow, may I be reminded of this:

A miracle's one of two requirements is the impossible. The other one is a God with whom all things are possible. Never be afraid of the impossibility, for it is only God's backdrop for a wonderful miracle. Simply trust, and obey. 

He bids them seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and His promise is that all things needful to them for this life shall be added. Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.  {DA 330.1}  

God in His providence brought the Hebrews into the mountain fastnesses before the sea, that He might manifest His power in their deliverance and signally humble the pride of their oppressors. He might have saved them in any other way, but He chose this method in order to test their faith and strengthen their trust in Him. The people were weary and terrified, yet if they had held back when Moses bade them advance, God would never have opened the path for them. It was "by faith" that "they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land." Hebrews 11:29. In marching down to the very water, they showed that they believed the word of God as spoken by Moses. They did all that was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One of Israel divided the sea to make a path for their feet.  {PP 290.1}   

The great lesson here taught is for all time. Often the Christian life is beset by dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, "Go forward." We should obey this command, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness, and we feel the cold waves about our feet. The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty disappears and there remains no risk of failure or defeat, will never obey at all. Unbelief whispers, "Let us wait till the obstructions are removed, and we can see our way clearly;" but faith courageously urges an advance, hoping all things, believing all things.  {PP 290.2}    

The cloud that was a wall of darkness to the Egyptians was to the Hebrews a great flood of light, illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the path before them. So the dealings of Providence bring to the unbelieving, darkness and despair, while to the trusting soul they are full of light and peace. The path where God leads the way may lie through the desert or the sea, but it is a safe path.  {PP 290.3}  

Step forward in faith on to the path of obedience. Follow that cloud. March to the water.

This post is inspired by the experience of my friend, Lorie, who refused to take an important exam because it was on a Sabbath, at the risk of not being able to take her young career forward, despite her potentials. Yet, God honored her step of faith (sometimes manifested by a stubborn refusal to budge, whatever the cost). With much prayer, she was later granted a privilege of taking a special exam alone. But the results proved that she was not, after all, alone. By God's grace, she passed that career exam. And the beautiful thing? She had passed a much more important "test" just a little earlier. God must be beaming, "Well done!"