1 Samuel 15:22 Obedience is greater than sacrifice.
Yesterday, we discussed something that I have seen to be true in my life time and time again. This happens when the Holy Spirit directs us to minister to someone or a group of people. We think that He is asking us to do this to help other people, and He is. But, His actual intention is to Bless us through our obedience to Him. I would like to share with you a personal example of this.
In the summer of 1999, the Lord gave me a song; a new song. I wrote it down. The next day, He gave me another one, and then another one. Over the course of about 4 days, He had given me 7 new songs all of which I quickly put down on paper.
The Holy Spirit then did something Miraculous! He tied all 7 new songs together with dialogue and put it all together as a musical play. I wrote it all down and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. The Lord just kept impressing on me that I should produce this musical play and put it on at church. Although I was in drama class in high school and played a part or two, I had never done anything like this before.
The moment I gave in to this call on my life He began to bring the people needed to make this a reality. One by one, the people just came into my life. The actors/singers, the director, the lighting gaffer, musicians, set designers, everyone! God had all the people ready and they all were excited about doing it.
I thought to myself that God was really going to use this to reach the community for Christ and although it cost me a lot of time and money (which I did not have at the time) out of shear obedience, I went ahead with it because the Lord was calling me to do it.
The title of the play presented a problem. I just didn’t know what to call it. One day I asked my niece about that and she said, “Well, what is the overall gist of the story?” My answer to her was that no matter what happens to us, when we have Jesus, we are never alone. “That’s it!” she said. The title is “Never Alone.”
It took about a year, but in September 2000 we introduced the public to the musical play “Never Alone.” It was wonderful and many people came to see it and they were Blessed. I know that several people were saved because of it and I was humbled to know that the Lord would use me in this way.
Then, in the Spring of 2003, while Jack and I were in the process of moving from California to Oklahoma, our Pastor insisted that I do the play again! I didn’t have time to do this and many of the people were no longer available, but I contacted those who were still in the area and they all agreed. With some minor cast changes, in March of 2003, Never Alone was once again presented at our church and again it was very well received by the public.
What I didn’t know was that while I thought God had given me 7 original songs and a complete musical play to go along with them as some sort of outreach for our community, it was actually for me! You see, in July of 2003, my husband, Jack, was tragically killed and I found myself in Oklahoma……..alone.
Almost instantly I was aware of what the Lord had done! All those songs and the storyline; it was all for me! Yes, it reached other people and blessed them, but it was really for me! No matter what happened, I was not alone. I had Jesus. I would never be alone. The lyrics to the Chorus of the Title Song: You’re never alone when you know Jesus. His Word is true; His Love is precious. With Him by your side, you're satisfied, and Never Alone.
It’s been more than 20 years and although I have been lonely at times, I know in my heart that as long as I have Jesus, I’m never alone. What an awesome God we serve!
Obedience will……..….turn the tide……….in your life.
Even now, I stand amazed! Doreen
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