On The Other Side Of Needs

She stepped up to the microphone,
Gave a preface to her song.
Sang it many times before,
Never heard it all along.

Sang the words as only words,
With never any heart.
After going to Africa,
They tore her heart apart.

How can people worship You,
When life’s so very hard?
How can they be happy?
Thoughts that caught her so off guard.

Worship can be so serious,
So stoic in its ways.
The worship there, had stayed with her,
All these many days.

Lives so very simple,
With few possessions all around.
The people knew they didn’t have much,
But they knew the joy they’d found.

Joy not in acquired things,
Joy that can’t be measured.
Joy because their Savior Lord,
Considers them His treasure.

A beautiful perspective,
Knowing they have needs.
Only He can meet them.
They follow where He leads.

They use their body to worship Him,
In their dance and in their song.
No one thinks a thing of this.
No one thinks that it is wrong.

Problem with us, the singer said,
We think that we are fine.
We have our act together.
We care that we will shine.

The people there, who know their needs,
Have no pretense, it is true.
Their troubles are not so weighty,
When they keep the Lord in view.

The song we sang was sung anew.
The words went deep inside.
Almost to embarrassment,
With nowhere left to hide.

We complain about the tiny things,
That matter not at all.
They have nothing…yet they have His joy,
The greatest gift of all.

Our prayers can be so well rehearsed.
Who do we say them for?
They pray to Him for sun and rain,
Their country free from war.

They thank Him…just for everything.
Legs to stand upon.
Breath of life, their precious wife,
Another glorious dawn.

I listened to the singer,
Before she sang her song.
So terribly convicted,
Of the thinking that’s been wrong.

You want us to come with empty Hands.
That You long so much to fill.
Not with things to brag about.
But things to do Your will.

How can we see You clearly Lord,
When our things get in the way?
We pray so focused on our self,
With words that sound cliche.

Help us be thankful in bounty, Lord.
Help us be thankful in want.
Help us see You in each day that is new.
Help us not be nonchalant.

It’s not in the poverty we find You, Lord.
Not in the hard life alone.
It’s seeing You in all we have…all we are.
The harvest of seeds that were sown.

When we see clearly our need of You, Lord.
That without You, we can do no thing.
Only then are we ready to worship.
Only then are we ready to sing.

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I was so grateful for this woman’s words, before she led us in song.
She could barely get through…without tears.
The people’s simplicity cut her to the core.
They had nothing…but they had everything.

They were so far ahead of us in their realization that they were needy people.
We are fine…thank you very much.
Until we are not!
Then we scramble for solutions…for answers.

They know that every breath, every step, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.
(James 1:17)

One of my daughters went to Africa during her last year of college.
She plans to go back again this summer, if God allows.
She, like this woman, was struck by the simple faith of the people.

Thanking God for the meager food in their cupboards.
Thanking God for two strong legs to walk on.
Simple acknowledgement that whatever they have is from HIM.

Often, we find ourselves asking for more.
We, as a culture, have so much.
We don’t know our needs.
Sometimes, we deny that we even have them.

Our greatest need is to have a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Some of the nations that we sent missionaries to…could now send missionaries to us.
We have forgotten.
They remember.

We try desperately to alleviate hard times.
It is in the struggle, that we see how very much we need God!
Through the pain and the lament…on the other side of our needs…there is worship.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength…And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:12,13,19)