Earth Arms & A Song

Nicole Walters
Singing for Jesus
http://www.mygoodnessmagazine.com/









October 1, 2007

I was reading Nicole Walter’s article, My Unbroken Heart, this morning in the online ‘My Goodness magazine’. Wow, her words really got to me. I pondered that article for hours and had a multitude of reactions, even excuses. I asked the Lord to show me why this unsettled my spirit.

Someone long ago wrote of sitting by a fire. The writer imagined the noises which came from the wood as it burned were imprisoned songs, finally brought to freedom by the flames. They reasoned the birds had sung while sitting on the branches of the tree. The wind had pushed its way through, making its own music. The rain had written a melody which sank deep into its roots. A child had played and sang in its shade. All these notes soaked into the wood, hidden away in the trunk. They were hidden away until the flames set them free one evening chilly enough to warrant an open fire.

The body of Christ is like that to me. God has given each one of us gifts to serve in His kingdom. Life can lock a song away until your heart breaks for someone else’s need and you are moved by the Holy Spirit to extraordinary actions as well as serving joyfully in the mundane and everything in between. We are a body made up of parts each valuable and glorious when God directed. Scripture tells me so. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12) Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5)

I thank God for the incredible people who serve in the trenches of life and on the front line. This world we live in is so blessed to have them working for God. They face extraordinary circumstances, persevere through great difficulty and suffer enormous personal loss. Oh yes there is personal joy for them too but they couldn’t do it without God – it’s way too hard and the cost is way too great. I have many friends who serve in the trenches and on the front line – it’s my awesome privilege to pray for them and encourage them and love them with everything God gave me along with praying for hundreds I don’t even know. Have you ever seen one of those “trench serving” people sitting at a concert where Nicole is singing? I am a witness to such a beautiful sight. Sometime ago while attending a concert at Faith Church in Arvada I was mesmerized as I gazed over at a woman I knew was tired and nearly to the end of spent on hiatus from the mission field. As Nichole’s sassy, passionate angelic voice reached her ears her head leaned back, her eyes slowly closed and tears trickled softly down her cheeks. I watched as this precious woman’s body seemed to sigh with healing relief. My eyes kept wondering over to check on how this woman was doing throughout the concert. By the end of the concert the woman seemed animated, energized and refreshed. Seems like such a little thing….. but

A pearl to string: Nothing is little with God. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16) God uses our earth arms and songs to build each other up for glory in His love.

Know your worth to Jesus -
He loves you with His life,
Lyndi