Melody Francis

Wherever you are, be all there - Jim Elliot 

I have a lot of dreams and hopes for the future that I desire to see come true both in my own timing and by my own means. But over the past little while God has been showing me that I need to be patient and content in all that He gives me. Jim Elliot once said "wherever you are, be all there." I just love that because it reminds me that I have been blessed with a sweet gift that I so often take for granted - time. So often I desire to skip all the current events taking place in my life in hopes to gain what the future has to offer but what about now? What about what God has given me now? Is it worth nothing if it's not what I ultimately desire? Sometimes I look at it that way but I am realizing how dangerous this view of life can be...

So what are my dreams? What would I like to do for the rest of my life? I just want to sing for Jesus all over the world. I want to write music that points people's hearts to Christ and that will ultimately bring worship and glory to God. Sometimes I even wonder if this dream will ever come to fruition. Often I get discouraged by this thought and I feel like my life is moving so slow.

But then it hit me (and by "it" I mean I got supremely convicted by God's word and his truth - in a good and awesome way...) that I wasn't being content  in Christ alone. Something that I am learning to do is to consider my life in the absence of music. Would I feel lost? Would I lose my purpose? Would I lose my joy? Unfortunately, sometimes I think that I would react that way. And then I ask myself why? I quickly discover that so often I turn a gift like music into something idolatrous. I am realizing that sometimes I try to find my joy and comfort in the words or musical arrangement of a song rather than the unfailing love of Christ.

Now some of you reading this might not be able to relate to my struggle, but I bet you could think of something that isn't necessarily wrong but so often takes the place of God in your life. I don't know about you but I never want to get to a place in my life where I completely lose sight of who I'm living for . So often our minds shift to ourselves and we are so concerned about our own success rather than living our lives with an eternal perspective.

I often find myself only thanking God for the good things that come in my life and when the desires of my heart have been granted to me but God is worthy of my praise all the time. I want to live my life in genuine worship of God - where my worship is not circumstantial but is based on the fact that He is good and worthy to be praised.

I encourage you to search your heart and identify your motives in all that you do. I also encourage you to live each day and each moment understanding that every breath you take is an act of grace by God and that it should never be taken for granted. You may not be where you want to be, but if God put you where you are now, then you're where you're supposed to be. I want to wake up everyday with a heart full of joy knowing that someone so weak like me has been given the opportunity to serve the Almighty God :) Let's put away our grumbling hearts and serve God wholeheartedly even when our flesh desires to sit in silence..

So wherever you go, and whatever you do, be all there.


melody