"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 40:31 is a verse I memorized a LONG time ago. It paints such a beautiful picture of having an active and continually moving relationship with the Lord and it's one of my favorite reminders that waiting on the Lord is just as active as flying, running, walking, growing weary and even fainting!
The weather was perfect on the beautiful island of Grand Turk. The people there and in South Florida were so warm and hospitable and the folks on the cruise ship gave us reason to smile and laugh and enjoy every minute of our time with them. The crew were especially wonderful (they came from over 70 different countries) as were the folks who hosted the cruise and worked out every detail for 2000 passengers and just about as many crew members.
You may be wondering "What on earth does this have to do with Isaiah 40:31?" -- actually - everything! Keep on reading...
"They that wait upon the Lord" --
When I was in my early 30's I left a very secure teaching job in my home town to follow God's call to minister through music. I thought that meant fame and fortune as a professional singer and all that went along with it. I also thought that leaving then meant instant answers. Since that time, almost 20 years have passed and I'm still not famous and I've certainly made no fortune from singing but I've believed all along that following God's call to minister through music was real then and is still real now. I've heard it said that if you don't have a record deal or a hit record or if you're not touring constantly blah blah blah that the call isn't real...or that if you don't make it in the "big bizness of show bizness" by the time you've reached your mid 20's you should just hang up your pipes and go home...but here's the deal - God is not confined by space, time, age or financing. He's also not interested in our fame and doesn't need our fortune...oh how I believed the lie for so long that I had to earn His love by being successful, famous, beautiful, perfect -- you know - all those things! God has given me a lot of chances to learn about waiting on Him in this crazy life of mine but I never imagined that the waiting would bring such an amazing blessing for me personally.
...and wait upon the Lord" -
The guys who put this trip together had been praying for a singer for months with no one responding. They kept seeking God as to whether they even needed one and continued to believe that He would make a way. I had no idea this was happening and even though I knew about this trip, I didn't pursue it because I thought someone would jump at the chance for an opportunity like that - and I was already committed to go to Israel this year with the Celebration Orchestra. I didn't seek this trip out but when the invitation came, I just knew I was supposed to be a part of it! One statement that the director of the group made to me was that he knew this trip was on my "bucket list" -- I don't remember ever mentioning that to him -- the only way he would have known is if God told him. Knowing I was their answer to prayer is humbling and knowing that God was orchestrating all this long ago is so very precious to me - I waited a long time, but it was oh so worth it!"Shall Renew Their Strength"
When our group gathered for the first time to rehearse on Friday evening, we were road weary travelers who had been arriving all day long into the Ft. Lauderdale area (I arrived only 15 minutes prior to our departure to the rehearsal venue!). The people I met were a broad range of ages from all over the country but what we all had in common was this same calling on our lives -- to minister through music. Another thing I observed was that none of us were famous - and none of us were new to this love of music - and none of us were new Christians either. We all had stories to tell - stories of hard things in our journeys - mistakes made and blessings received - rich stories that made for great conversation. We also shared a rich passion for doing things well and honoring God with our gifts and talents...by being excellent - not perfect. That first rehearsal offered us all a chance to get to know one another and begin to bond and draw strength from one another and from the Lord to prepare for the week ahead. My very first song to rehearse with this group was "Blue Skies" - a song I had done with the Celebration Orchestra many times in Israel in 2012. Tears came to my eyes because I felt like I was home. I felt as though I had known these people for a lifetime and I knew before the week was out, we'd be family and the sound of the horns and percussion flowed through my veins and into my DNA...just so comfortable and wonderful.
"They will mount up with wings as eagles" -
Because I'm preparing to go back to Israel this Fall and because the invitation to join this group came so quickly, I had to make some very fast arrangements to go as far as vacation requests, air travel, clothing, etc. God opened up the windows of Heaven and spoke to His people to provide resources to get me where I needed to be so that we could all be used for His will and glory. Not only did the funding come through, but my brothers and sisters in Christ were used of God to provide clothing, finances, shoes, airline tickets, prayer, encouragement and MORE! I was also given 14 songs to learn/memorize/prepare at performance level in 3 weeks and spent every spare moment doing so - I was thankful that 6 of them were familiar. Every single step in preparing for this trip was anointed by the Lord. He even allowed distractions to come in order to strengthen my focus and wings to soar with the eagles!
I was a little concerned about trying to fund two trips this year. So much so, that my prayer focus began to move toward asking God for confirmation as to whether He truly wanted me to go to Israel or if I needed to just move all the funding over from that trip over to this one. I didn't know if I could physically do both trips or if I'd have enough time off work to be able to commit to them. But God faithfully showed His plan to me first through my sweet supervisor here at work. When I asked off for this trip I mentioned that I wanted to be sure there was enough time off for Israel too -- her first glance showed that I had 10 days available (I needed 11) - but she said that she just sensed God would make a way. She came back to me the next day to tell me that God reminded her that we have a floating "ministry day" so there was my 11th day!! His next directive was to move all of my Israel funding but my deposit over. So I did but honestly, it made me nervous.
The next confirmation He sent to me came at the concerts we did at the church in Ft. Lauderdale both on Saturday evening and then again on Sunday morning. We had a great time at the dinner/dance concert. The crowd was electric and the chemistry in the Big Band was just amazing - especially considering that we had only had about 3 hours of rehearsal time, I had no monitor so I was singing from the floor and engaging with the audience on a much more personal level than I normally do so they could hear every little bump and bungle I made! ugh! I shared that I was planning to return to Israel and that all my cd sales would go toward that trip and the pastor kept encouraging me to do so.
During one of our breaks, two ladies called me over to their table and asked about the Israel trip. They told me they were Jewish and would love an opportunity to travel to Israel with a good group. They asked lots of questions and we established a great connection with each other. The next morning, another sweet lady grabbed me as I was walking into the worship service and told me she was Jewish and that she had purchased one of my Cd's and that she was so glad I was returning to Israel. She shared with me that she had been over there before she had received Christ but had accepted Him as her Savior because of the outreach of this church. She said that her family was still orthodox but they told her she knew much more about their faith than they did! She said that she was teaching them and answering their questions, praying they'd come to know Christ too. With big tears in my eyes, I told her she had no idea what a beautiful encouragement she was to me. After the service, she called to me from the stage platform and had a very stately, handsome gentleman with her. She told me she had someone I HAD to meet! So of course I made my way down there. She introduced me to this man, who wanted to know more about my trip to Israel. He didn't tell me who he was right away but asked if there was a need for a percussionist. He shared that he played in the church orchestra and had played with Glenn Miller as a young man and as Moses in the Christmas production, he always speaks his part in Hebrew. We talked some more and he gave me his card ...this sweet man is one of the rabbis at the Messianic church in Ft. Lauderdale! It was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears as I left this conversation. God was showing me in His own sweet way that I didn't have to worry about going to Israel - he was paving the way with these connections and showing me that my love for Him and for His people over there matters and He wants me to go if that's the desire of my heart...and you know it is! Shortly before the second service started, I was leaving the sanctuary to go make my makeup presentable again since I had cried it all off after those conversations and another sweet lady stopped me and complimented the band and my voice. She was so sweet and kind and told me I sounded like Doris Day. She said our music was what people needed to hear and she wanted more of it. I told her how to get our music and then quickly hugged her and slipped away before we had to be on stage again. Little did I know the next blessing was about to come. She walked over to our sales table and spoke with 2 of our support personnel asking about getting radio air play for our music. She had connections to the industry and was going to do her part to make this happen. I had no knowledge of this until after the second service -- good thing because I would have been a sure mess on that stage!
The second service was amazing! The band sounded great and my vocals were strong -- both of which were huge answers to prayer. I knew I was emotional and the band was nervous and I just prayed a simple prayer asking God for help and He was there -- right there with us guiding every word and note!
We were elated! We had seen God's Hand all over the place at that wonderful church but we hadn't seen it all quite yet. Later in the week we received an email from the pastor telling us that the folks who'd attended the banquet and services were still talking about it and he shared that about 40% of those who attended the banquet were non-members or non-attenders (not counting the band). Of that population, a great number of them were from the Jewish community! You all know what happened -- the tears just flowed like a river again!! Talk about running and not growing weary!! We hadn't had much sleep, down time or rehearsals but we weren't weary -- our fuel was coming from the work and Hands of the Lord!!Stay tuned...next time I'll tell you about driving to Miami, boarding the ship and more of God's amazing work in this journey! He's just so great! Oh - and we'll continue the hands on experiences of Isaiah 40:31, too!!
Blessings! Amy
