Lord of ALL

(The opening photo is, again, part of what we see when we look out of our back windows at home. Psalm 66:4.)

Many of you may be aware of a wonderful song I was privileged to record with my buddies, Bonnie Keen and Marty McCall as the group First Call. It has the same title as this blog – Lord of All. I remember when we were listening to lots of music in order to choose ten songs for our second album entitled “The Reason We Sing”, we were in an office at Word Records and the A&R Director began to play this particular option for us. All three of us were silent, I’m remembering a few tears, and then an immediate, “YES, this has to be on our next project!” In case you aren’t familiar, the lyric alone by Phil McHugh will bless you:

Lord of all
Of the heights where faith can lift the trusting heart
Lord of all
Of the depths where fear would tear such faith apart
Lord of all
Of the nations quick to anger, bearing arms
Lord of all
Of each child held by its mother, safe from harm

Lord of all
Of all seen and unseen things
Of a universe that sings and calls You Lord of all
Lord of all
Of the power not to sin
You have always been and always will be
Lord of all

Lord of all
Of a peace that we can draw with every breath
Lord of all
Of provision for each need in life and death
Lord of all
Of the turnings of the seasons and the earth
Lord of all
Of the love that purchased man a second birth

(Repeat chorus)

(This is a photo of the three of us in later years singing “Lord of All”).

Yesterday, Dick and I were able to attend our church which is always a treat in this season. The song selection combined with the message drew me to this truth: Jesus is truly Lord of all. Now initially, that probably isn’t a life-altering thought for anyone to hear. For those of us who are believers in Jesus, this “line in the sand” is foundational to our faith. Of course He is Lord of all! Nothing is impossible for Him. He sees all, knows all, and is constantly working all things for our good. Can we agree on this?

So what more is there to say on the subject?

Well, let me be vulnerable with you here. Yesterday at church there were several phrases we sang that caused my heart to ask my mind (or maybe it was the other way around), “Do you absolutely believe this?”

(A quick pause here: I hope that when you are singing songs of worship you are internalizing the messages and affirming the truths of those words. It’s easy to be so familiar with a song that you might find yourself on “cruise control” and miss the depth and significance of the lyrics coming out of your mouth.)

Now back to the story . . .
Here were a few lines that jumped out at me as I sang along at our church:
“He has good plans, He has good plans for me”
“Christ is my firm foundation. He won’t fail . . . He won’t”

On the surface, of course I believed what was coming out of my mouth.

But as I look towards an important doctor appointment tomorrow (more on that in a minute), and also am aware of many friends who are dealing with heavy situations, I can honestly say my heart isn’t questioning God. It just wants to make sure, “Hey Lord, you see this, right? And you have good plans for this person, right? And you are Lord of ALL, aren’t you?”

I’ve mentioned the prayer list that Dick and I bring before the throne each morning. There are some challenging requests on there.

• Multiple types of cancer diagnoses – in various stages
• A 2 year old granddaughter of a friend fell into a pool and is struggling for her life
• Another friend whose husband just went to heaven after a lengthy health and dementia battle
• Yet another friend who recently had a stroke as well as several other health complications that have all seemed to come out of the blue and at the same time

Lord of ALL.

Max Lucado was the first person I ever heard say these words: God only gives us a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. But He has the lid to the box.

Yep! Here are a few other quotes I’ve recently read:

“The next time you experience the pain of worry and anxiety, consider that it may be fueled by too much confidence that your plans are wiser than God’s.” (Tim Keller)

“Acceptance of the will of God means relinquishment of our own. If our hands are full of our own plans, there isn’t room to receive His.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

“In every situation and circumstance of your life, God is always doing a thousand things that you cannot see and do not know.” (John Piper)

“Most of our disappointments are His appointments. He is conforming us to His image.” (Alistair Begg)

Lord of ALL.

Tomorrow morning, I will have a CT scan done on my abdomen. This will be followed up in the afternoon with a time for Dick and I to sit down with my oncologist to read the results. One of the main purposes of this scan is to determine if there is any cancer that might be detected . . . anywhere. As I’ve written before, we are believing that the surgeon removed all of the cancer with my hysterectomy, and we left it at the hospital! (Isn’t that a great picture?) Our prayer for tomorrow is that ZERO cancer or cancer cells will be found. NONE. NADA. ZILCH. We have every reason to believe this will be the case. And we are walking in that faith.

If there’s one thing I’m learning through this journey it is that God’s ways, while not always lined up with my own, are really and truly what I want! He does have good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 3:5-6). And He won’t fail us. He won’t. Ever. (Luke 1:37, Joshua 21:45, Psalm 73:26).

He is Lord of ALL. Not Lord of some. Or Lord of parts here and there. He is Lord of every single detail.

I just took a few minutes and listened to Bonnie, Marty, and I sing Lord of All that we recorded those many years ago. I have to say, knowing what I have experienced these last few months and looking towards my appointment tomorrow, one of the lines of the song took me by surprise and hit me hard enough to well up a few tears. This was a line that I was chosen to sing back in 1987 as we “randomly” put together what would be our definitive arrangement. Here’s what the line says – Lord of All, of the depths where fear would tear such faith apart. Wow. I understand that line 1000% more than I did back when I was in my twenties and we recorded those words! Back then, I’m not sure I could comprehend a scenario where fear could tear my faith apart. But it’s something I now understand, and must fight against.

No matter what the results are tomorrow, no matter what my next steps might look like . . . fear will NOT be tearing my faith apart. I will hold tightly to my Lord of ALL. And whatever you may be facing, I hope you will hold tightly to Him as well.

“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

(If you have never heard this song, I encourage you to take 5 minutes to do so.
Here’s a youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rajCife63_o&list=RDrajCife63_o&start_radio=1
And please, no unseemly remarks about our 80’s clothes and hair . . . 😃)