A God Moment

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Our first missionary photo from 1986.
The Sunday before we were to leave the United States and move to the Philippines to become missionaries, I sat in what would be our last church service in the USA for two years.  On my lap was my daughter, and my sons were sitting next to me in the church pew.  

The service had been a typical Sunday evening service that ended with a time of prayer at the altar.  The worship leader sang throughout the altar service.  

 As this portion of the service was ending,  only a few people remained at the altar.  Then the worship leader began to sing one of my favorite songs; The Steadfast Love Of The Lord.  

I won’t lie to you, I had deep concerns about moving my family to a foreign country.  I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived with things like beggars, hungry children, masses of people, ridiculous amounts of traffic, military coups, would I know how to shop in the markets, would the heat be unbearable, I had to learn a new currency, new language, new school for my children, would we be effective for the Lord, what kind of house would we live in, etc. 

My mind raced at all the new things we were about to face.  I held my baby girl a bit tighter.  Would my children be safe, would we all be safe in another country?
  
Then it happened; a God Moment.  

 A God Moment is when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is using someone or something to speak directly to you.

The worship leader had sung my favorite song through a few times. 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness O Lord,
Great is Your faithfulness.

About the third time through, he came to this phrase of the song: They are new every morning.

This one line he repeated over and over again.  And when I say over and over, I’m not kidding.  It was as if God told him, don’t stop until she gets it!

They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning

And, I got it!  

About the fourth time he sang, They are new every morning, I was weeping as God in a supernatural way dropped into my heart the reminder that He is a God of unending love, mercy, and compassion and no matter what was ahead.  His love, mercy, and compassion was waiting for me new every morning.

I knew at that moment, He would not call me to go and then forget about me once I got on the plane.  

This is what Lamentations 3:21-24 tells us:

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

This passage of scripture will always hold a special place in my heart.  It is a love note sent directly to me from my Heavenly Father, to give me both strength and courage to look up and find hope. 

No matter what difficult situation you may be facing today, God is still God and in Him, you will find love, mercy, and compassion.

They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning
They are new every morning


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