In our losses we bore as we forsook all to follow the Lord, we were discovering that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of that which he possesses.” We were also learning about the sovereignty of God, how He is over all and engineers all things according to His will.
We weep at the loss of our holdings,
Our ambitions and savings destroyed,
But to bring us to greater horizons
Has God these events employed.
CHORUS:
Do we thank God and live or curse Him and die
As Job’s wife suggested to him?
Do we climb up that mountain receiving more light
Or do we sit in our valley so dim?
Job lost all his possessions;
Even children and health were not spared,
But when brought to loftier places,
He realized how poorly he’d fared.
The circumstances besetting us all
Are not the issue at stake,
But how we respond to the Lord our God,
This will make or break.
Dauphin, MB; 1978-79
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On May 9th, 2017, while my wife Marilyn was away, the Lord gave me a new song I began to sing as I stood in our vacant, closed, echoing garage in Moon River. I felt a thrill in my soul and began with a bar or two of a pattern as in C, Em, F, and G. I searched for words. The only words coming at the time were, “I want you to know that, know that, I want you to know that….” From there I searched for more and came to, “…the greatest blessing, the greatest blessing….” From there to, “The greatest blessing is to know Him….” As days went by, I'd go on to other things but would return to search for more of the tune and words that were life and reality, not religious platitudes. I was inspired to sing from the heart and not from indoctrination or intellectual knowledge. I Want You to Know is one song I've had to search within for the tune and words. It's also the one I've most enjoyed. It's been like going deeper in mining for gold and by God's grace, striking “pay dirt.” I speak of the theme, words, tune, the level of notes and form of words more suited for my voice and range, and the pleasure I've enjoyed in the Lord. This is my most personal song. The theme certainly is the message of my heart. I came to realize this song is a Declaration of the First and Great Commandment.
I think that one of the greatest battles I have ever had has been to forsake family and more particularly my parents, and perhaps most particularly, my father. His draw on my heart was so powerful, so very powerful. In his last years, his state was so pitiable that it was very hard for me to refuse him any wishes. It was agonizing indeed. But he died and was buried on my birthday, April 1, 1985. His death was the morning after I received a vision of the Lord standing up to put a stop to the enemies who were tormenting me. I did not know anything of my father's death until the following morning, or that his death and the vision were related. In his death, I felt loosened, with new freedom and power.
On September 24, 1996, Marilyn prophesied that the Lord was taking me, as He did Moses, for trespass, and that He had a ministry in the next world for me even as He had for Moses (as was seen on the mount of transfiguration). There came a resignation on my part, with sadness, and in this circumstance came this song which expresses that God does have a place reserved for saints. It is the destination of every believer, the goal of his spiritual trials and journey.