God Works In Mysterious Ways (a testimony
in musical form)
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!
Now, in 2017, I need to amend this slightly to admit that I have used the cane since then, although not often, and that the pain did eventually return. But the respite probably brought the disease back a couple of years of progress, minimum. I have my theories as to why He doesn't simply cure me - the biggest being what I would do or become if I no longer had the "leash" of the disease restricting me, forcing me to rely on Him instead of my own skills and energy.
Doesn't matter. I'm convinced, just as much as I was then. He is real, and He can do anything He chooses to.
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