Sure As The Sun Will Rise
"She bragged about her boys
How they're growing into men
How they've learned to praise the Lord
Old style, Ecuadorian."
- All I Need (I Did Not Catch Her Name), by Caedmon's Call
Until early last summer, the verse from the above song was about the only time I had ever given a thought to that part of South America known as Ecuador. The song is the true story of a family that the band met during a mission trip in the country: "Mother of eight sons / Father off to war / Got no home address / Just bricks on a dirt floor ... To buy the new guitar / They had to sell the swine / Said, 'My boys go to school on a foreign angel's dime.'"
The family is poor, relying not just on their own ingenuity but on the generosity of others, a 'foreign angel' as the mother puts it, who is sponsoring her sons so that they can attend school. Yet she welcomes the visiting song writers, telling them simply and whole-heartedly, "He always provides / Sure as the sun will rise / So I'll sing Him songs of praise / 'Cause I know He'll keep me in His gaze."
It's funny to think of this song now. The lyrics rushed to my memory when I was in Ecuador for the first time just a few weeks ago, visiting a place that I believe God is calling me to go live in and serve Him. Early last summer, after applying with an international missions organization, I was matched with a ministry in Quito, Ecuador. I began to communicate with the ministry leaders there, eventually discovering that the next step of faith was to go there for a week and meet the team in person. So I did. Walking through the crowded city and looking up in awe at the majestic mountains surrounding it, I suddenly remembered that song. It's by my favorite band, and is on a CD that I've listened to a hundred times, 'Share The Well', so of course the lyrics were already engrained on a part of my heart. But they hadn't been truly meaningful until that moment. Up until then, it had just been a song of faith and a story of foreign culture and the God who is good in all parts of the world. But as I prepare to move overseas to that particular part of the world, the lyrics "He'll always provide sure as the son will rise" stuck me as specifically meaningful. If I could control all aspects of my life, I probably would. Yet life is a thousand times richer when we trust in God and His plan. When I truly surrender and acknowledge that God will provide, I am given true freedom. Freedom to rely on Him, and not my own frail self.
As God calls me to mission work, I look forward to learning how to praise Him "old style, Ecuadorian", and any other way imaginable. The lyrics to a well-loved song reminded me that His loving hands are in every detail of life. Sometimes He lets us have a glimpse of that, just to remind us why walking in faith and obedience is so right and so freeing. So I'll sing Him songs of praise, for I know that He is faithful, and does indeed keep all His children in His gaze.
The family is poor, relying not just on their own ingenuity but on the generosity of others, a 'foreign angel' as the mother puts it, who is sponsoring her sons so that they can attend school. Yet she welcomes the visiting song writers, telling them simply and whole-heartedly, "He always provides / Sure as the sun will rise / So I'll sing Him songs of praise / 'Cause I know He'll keep me in His gaze."
It's funny to think of this song now. The lyrics rushed to my memory when I was in Ecuador for the first time just a few weeks ago, visiting a place that I believe God is calling me to go live in and serve Him. Early last summer, after applying with an international missions organization, I was matched with a ministry in Quito, Ecuador. I began to communicate with the ministry leaders there, eventually discovering that the next step of faith was to go there for a week and meet the team in person. So I did. Walking through the crowded city and looking up in awe at the majestic mountains surrounding it, I suddenly remembered that song. It's by my favorite band, and is on a CD that I've listened to a hundred times, 'Share The Well', so of course the lyrics were already engrained on a part of my heart. But they hadn't been truly meaningful until that moment. Up until then, it had just been a song of faith and a story of foreign culture and the God who is good in all parts of the world. But as I prepare to move overseas to that particular part of the world, the lyrics "He'll always provide sure as the son will rise" stuck me as specifically meaningful. If I could control all aspects of my life, I probably would. Yet life is a thousand times richer when we trust in God and His plan. When I truly surrender and acknowledge that God will provide, I am given true freedom. Freedom to rely on Him, and not my own frail self.
As God calls me to mission work, I look forward to learning how to praise Him "old style, Ecuadorian", and any other way imaginable. The lyrics to a well-loved song reminded me that His loving hands are in every detail of life. Sometimes He lets us have a glimpse of that, just to remind us why walking in faith and obedience is so right and so freeing. So I'll sing Him songs of praise, for I know that He is faithful, and does indeed keep all His children in His gaze.
Comments
Love your new post. So full of truth, faith and meaning!
Un abrazo.... Ecuadorian style :)
-Phil D