Let me introduce what you're about to read...
Occasionally, I do some singing and performing of my own music on stage, whether it's at a church or on a county fair platform, Anywhere I can testify to the glory of God, assuming I've got the strength to do it, basically.
This is the first or second song I wrote as a saved-soul Christian, and essentially it's my testimony. The context is important so certain sections make sense - otherwise, you'd be really wondering. I've use this with variations over the years - my wife's been dead for two years now, so obviously I don't introduce her on stage anymore! The chorus is sung with a melody; the verses are essentially spoken, not quite rapped. (I even let my church play a video of a performance of this song when I was baptized. A unique baptism, to say the least!) If my kids are around, I use them as prompts to get the audience to sing along with the "God works" sections after the choruses...
God Works In Mysterious Ways (a testimony set to music)
Hey
there, everyone – My name is Gordon Paul Smith, and although God’s just
recently called me to share His music and His Word with you, the truth is that
He’s been preparing me for this my whole life. I started composing when I was
twelve; I was arranging for bands of all sizes while I was still in high
school, and I’ve been a composer and music teacher for thirty years now. So, He
knew what He was doing…even if I had no clue. You see, I’d led most of my life
as what I would now call a – “semi-Christian” – I paid lip service to the
general concept of Christianity, went to church once in awhile, and I tried to
live my life according to Jesus’ teachings, but… well, see, my other academic
strengths were in the areas of math and science, and in fact I left college
with a degree and credential in both music and math. Sooo… I was what in
Missouri they’d call a “SHOW ME – prove it to me” kinda guy. Faith wasn’t going
to be enough for me – I needed some kind of actual proof, something TANGIBLE
that would MAKE me believe.
Well,
guess what? He proved it to me – during my 48th summer on the
planet, and it may seem like an awfully complicated way for the Lord to have
gone about getting me to this place, singing for you today…but for Him, it was
a piece of cake. Because…
God Works In Mysterious Ways,
You’ll
never understand what happened ‘til the end of your days.
The
best laid plans of mice and men
Will have you thinking that
you’ll have to start all over again.
Whatever God does, it turns out
right in the end,
But He works in mysterious ways…
(God
Works in mysterious ways… - c’mon folks! – God Works in mysterious
ways… God Works in mysterious ways.. )
That’s
my beautiful wife Melissa over there. Everybody say, “Hi, Melissa!” (response!)
Melissa and I were high school sweethearts – but of course, it’s not that
simple. You see, even back then, we knew we were a match made in Heaven,
literally. We were inseparable, and we couldn’t keep our hands off each other,
so much so that none of our friends would believe us when we assured them we’d
never slept together. But then… well, first I went off to college, and
when I came back she moved across the country, and then closer but not close
enough, and… well, to make a long story short, we could never make the
long-distance thing work. The Lord knows we spent ten years trying, but He also
knew neither of us were ready for His plan yet, so He kept us hopping. Finally,
in ’92, we were talking on the phone. I was dating a woman that I knew looked a
LOT like Melissa, and she was dating a man who was just SO MUCH like
me…and it was blatantly obvious to both of us that the moment we saw each other
again, we’d be right back in each other’s arms, and probably for good this
time.
Well,
guess what? He knew we still couldn’t have made it last, so He gave me
the dumbest words that have ever come out of my mouth: “Well, then, we’d better
stay away from each other so we can give these relationships a chance to work!”
And we did – and I didn’t hear her voice again for eighteen years…
God Works In Mysterious Ways,
You’ll
never understand what happened ‘til the end of your days.
The
best laid plans of mice and men
Will have you thinking that
you’ll have to start all over again.
Whatever God does, it turns out
right in the end,
But He works in mysterious ways…
(God
Works in mysterious ways… God Works in mysterious ways… God Works
in mysterious ways…)
So
we both married the ‘wrong people’, but we had moderately decent marriages
anyway, because we’re good folks who did whatever we could to marry for life.
But, eventually, both spouses left us – at about the same time, in fact, in
2008. When Melissa’s sister found out, she immediately wrote and squealed that
it MUST BE FATE and gave me Melissa’s new address. So I wrote a letter – way
too soon, in fact, not more than a few weeks after the separation. And Melissa
wrote right back – well, she SAYS she wrote back, but somehow the letter – never – reached me. So she
thought I wasn’t answering, and I
thought she wasn’t answering, and we
both gave up. You see, God knew that we’d click again the moment we saw each
other, and while we were almost the people He needed us to become, we hadn’t
healed from our broken marriages yet. So another eighteen months went by, we
both got our feet back under us, and in July of 2010, I got an email… Have you
ever had that sensation where you’re afraid that you’re being Punked? Yeah,
that’s what her email felt like.
And,
guess what? We found a way to meet in August, three weeks later I had a
ring to slide on her finger, and the first time her three children met my five
children was at the wedding in December. Because, finally, the Lord knew we were ready…
God Works In Mysterious Ways,
You’ll
never understand what happened ‘til the end of your days.
The
best laid plans of mice and men
Will have you thinking that
you’ll have to start all over again.
Whatever God does, it turns out
right in the end,
But He works in mysterious ways…
(God
Works in mysterious ways… God Works in mysterious ways… God Works
in mysterious ways…)
But I’ve left out the best
part of God’s magic! Remember, at this point I’m not truly a Christian yet,
although Melissa was saved decades before. Whatever our doubts about that were,
we couldn’t imagine letting each other get away this time. So we blended our
families – not without the usual bumps along the way, of course, but reasonably
well. However, I started to develop a RARE disease called TAM – Tubular
Aggregate Myopathy – that only me and about 50 people in the entire world
have. Short version, it causes indescribable, degenerative muscle pain and
fatigue that had me using a cane for over a year before I got an electric
wheelchair for the toughest times. The medical bills were bankrupting us, and
it was taking a combination of Vicodin, gabapentin, oxycodone and morphine to
keep me functioning at all, and even that didn’t work for long. At my very
lowest points, I was suicidally depressed.
The
final straw – while driving to pick up a child in Reno, our car broke down in
Winnemucca – repairs would take days, and the only option was for me to leave
my wife there, catch a 5 a.m. Amtrak to Reno, rent a car, pick up the child,
drive back and rescue my wife. We were absolutely out of money, my cell phone
had died, I was out of pain meds, and by the time the long-delayed train even
showed up, I was out of options. ------- It takes a lot to make a man as
stubborn as I am surrender, but I finally did. - I got down on my knees, in the handicapped
section of a train car travelling between Fernley and Reno, and I had the same
conversation with the Lord that some of you here have probably made at the
pivotal moment in your life – Into Your hands, I commend my spirit.
Well,
guess what? Twenty minutes after the train pulled in, I was driving out
of the Reno Airport parking garage with renewed vigor, on the way to pick up
our son, and I looked up, nodded and smiled. Of course, I was still in
overwhelming pain, and once we got to my wife she had to drive us home while I
writhed in pain for five hours.
BUT….
Guess what? The next morning, I woke up at 6 a.m. – with no pain. None.
Jesus removed it, and gave me the strength to function like I need to in order
to do His work, to spread His message of joy and love.
I
haven’t used the CANE – I haven’t had the PAIN – and all ‘cause of that TRAIN!
God Works In Mysterious Ways,
You’ll
never understand what happened ‘til the end of your days.
The
best laid plans of mice and men
Will have you thinking that
you’ll have to start all over again.
Whatever God does, it turns out
right in the end,
But He works in mysterious ways…
God Works!
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