When the Saints...

I heard a song recently on the radio, and it moved me. Chill bumps... Feeling excitement and a challenge deep in my soul... When I heard it, I thought, "Yes, that is it!"

The song is called "When the Saints" by Sara Groves. Below, I have the link and the lyrics, but first I'd like you to read what she said about writing the song:

"’When the Saints’ was inspired by the work of The International Justice Mission. Their work made me think about the people I have admired in history and made their kind of action seem more accessible. I used to read about amazing heroes like Harriet Tubman who secured her own freedom from slavery and then helped rescue many others through the Underground Railroad. I have always wondered how I would have responded in different times in history. Would I have opened my home to the Underground Railroad or given Anne Frank refuge? We think those stories are removed from us, but right now there are millions of slaves, millions of people hiding from their oppressors. I realized not too long ago, that I have not been the Good Samaritan. I have been the other guys, who walk on the far side of the road. It is my heart’s desire to change that, and ‘When the Saints’ is a celebration of people who were placed by God for certain times and events, and a prayer that I will have the strength to show up for my time. "

The song should bring our thoughts back to the faithful who have gone before us. This song should also bring us into the present! How quickly we forget... We should be compelled to be rescuers to the oppressed, servants to the needy, and share the hope of Christ with every soul we encounter! I am convicted! Whoa!

I am trying to start a HS Co-op to study...Guess what? Missionaries... I want our children to know the sacrifices that have been paid, the lives that have been offered, the blessings that have come because men and women of faith heeded the call to serve a lost and hurting world. This song signifies the message that will be interwoven in the Co-op. "Yes, let's remember the faithful, and let's be faithful!" I'm so excited about studying Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, David Livingston, Gladys Aylward, etc... These are people that I admire and respect because of the lives they led here on earth! I'm also excited about linking arms with others to live with a "mission mindset!" My hope is that as we study these servants who have "paved the way" we will learn from the lives they offered and choose to live with the same focus. Jesus - ONLY!

Enough rambling...back to the song. Here are the lyrics and at the bottom is the link to listen. I pray it will move you - as it has me - out of complacency!

WHEN THE SAINTS by Sara Groves

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

And when the Saints
go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry
and cannot leave behind
but your word has compelled me
when I think of all who've gone before me
and lived the faithful life

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought
I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharaohs court
I hear his call of freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the end of the spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the lepers side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load


LINK TO LISTEN TO "WHEN THE SAINTS"

Let me know what you think!