Like a Mustard Seed

You are the author of knowledge
You can redeem what's been done
You hold the present and all that's to come
Until your everlasting kingdom

Lord I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow
Turning the darkness to dawn
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on
You are the rock of our salvation

Lord I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Oh Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what's been done
You hold us in the present and all that is to come
Oh Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what's been done
You hold us in the present and all that is to come

Lord we don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead us to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt
Lord we don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead us to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

That song was written after September 11, 2001. My dad raised me on Newsboys... and I've always loved their songs. Well, one of those 'Small World' moments happened when, one Sunday, in our church in the US we sang the song 'He Reigns'. The worship pastor said that it was one of the ladies singing's brother who co-wrote the song. My dad has loved Newsboys since they started, and before that he was a huge fan of Steve Taylor, who is now the Newsboys' producer. Well, my dad looked at the lady on stage and it clicked that she was Steve Taylor's sister! Well, he asked her about it and to make a long story short, Steve Taylor and his family came that Christmas to visit his sister and our church. My dad got to meet him (I did too!), and he was able to ask Steve about this song...

You see... this song holds really deep meaning for firstly my dad, and for our whole family. Sometimes, I'll stop and listen to it and I'll just start crying because of the emotional significance it has for me. When I was in 6th grade my family went back to the US for home assignment. We were planning on being back for a year and then going back to our home in Cote d'Ivoire. Well, in September 2003, the country fell apart into a civil war. We were in the states, we were safe... but for me I WANTED to be back home! Even in the middle of the war, I wanted to be there and saying goodbye to the only place I'd ever called home. I wanted to be with my friends, my extended family, the people that knew me and loved me. I know my parents were struggling too - where was God going to lead next?

One day dad was driving down the main boulevard in our town, and this song came on the Christian radio station. He had to pull the car over, because he started crying... Only God knows what is going to happen... Only he knows how it will all work out, and the best thing we can pray for is peace that will take us past all doubt.

I love the parable Jesus tells about the mustard seed.
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." Matthew 13:31-32
To me, faith is like a mustard seed too. It has to start somewhere. That one tiny leap of faith is all you need, then it can grow and grow until it's so big! It's so big that it's impossible to uproot and you become an example and role model for the people around you who look at you and say, "Wow, I want faith like that." And the 'faith like that' started out tiny, just like a tiny mustard seed.

Basically, I'm writing this because I've had a huge disappointment happen to me. Me and another good friend and another family were going to go to Benin to help with a conference by doing the kids program. We've been planning and preparing for almost 2 months... and I found out yesterday that the trip was canceled. The director's nephew committed suicide, and she needs to go back to the USA to be with the family. The people we were doing the conference for decided that the conference would be postponed until she gets back. So it's not CANCELED... but it's still really really disappointing. We were going to go during our school's October Break, now if we go later we'll have to miss a week of school. It just becomes so much more complicated and frustrating... but God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

It's so funny though how sometimes something can send you crashing down but something else can lift you up so sky high! One of my friends, after a long and 'painful' (he calls it) process, has finally decided to become a Christian! It's so exciting and amazing and wonderful and I'm just so blown away and overjoyed about it all! God is so so so good. Incredibly, absolutely good. Amen?