The Choice

This afternoon I happened upon the song on my IPod called The One by Brandon Heath and it really clicked in my heart.  I wish everyone could hear this song, and really take the lyrics to heart.  Here they are:

If I see one more light that's fading
Hear about one more broken dream
Pray for just one more faith that's dying
It's one too many

And if I see one more child walking
Just one more mile for water
If I wait one more minute longer
It's one too many

When I think of what could be
If we let our hearts believe
That it takes just one
Just one could turn this all around

And if we're living history
How will they think of you and me
If it takes just one, just one
What if, what if, what if I'm the one?

It takes one, takes one, one
It takes one, takes one, one
It takes one, takes one

If I hear one more widow crying
'Cause there's no one by her side
And if I see one more family breaking
It's one too many

If there's one thing that I'm sure of
If there's one thing that I know
You could be one in a sea of faces
Or you could be one more chance for hope

When I think of what could be
If we let our hearts believe
That it takes just one
Just one could turn this all around

And if we're living history
How will they think of you and me
If it takes just one, just one
What if, what if, what if I'm the one?

I see a nation without any walls
A beautiful haven for one and for all
I see a day when people are free
When shackles are broken and fall to the street

A voice, a cry, call out from on high
The first one of many, go lay down your life

When I think of what could be
If we let our hearts believe
That it takes just one
Just one could turn this all around

And if we're living history
How will they think of you and me
If it takes just one, just one
What if, what if, what if I'm the one?

It takes one, takes one, one
(What if you're the one)
It takes one, takes one, one
It takes one, takes one
(What if I'm the one)

I love the words:  you could be one in a sea of faces or you could be one more chance for hope.  That is the ultimate choice, isn’t it?  God doesn’t create us to blend in with our surroundings.  He created us to shine.  He talks about a lamp put on its stand and a city on a hill.  You can’t miss those things.  The world shouldn’t miss us.

That’s been the thing on my heart for these past six years.  I really want to give my life and heart to orphan care.  Knowing how to go about it is a hard thing.  Right now I have loans to pay off and quite a bit of growing up to do, not to mention learning and building skills.  However, I don’t believe that God wastes time.  I believe that He has a specific purpose for this in-between time, and I want to use it all well to His glory.

How can I be “the one” where I am right now?  How can I shine a light to the people I come into contact with every day?  Surely if I am faithful with the few things that God has given me, someday He will put me in charge of much.  He knows my heart and He is teaching me every day.  Someday He’s going to open the door for me to live abroad and care for the street children.  Until that day, I must not neglect the ministry that He has given me right here, right now.  Lord, please help me to not grow tired or frustrated as the time seems to pass slowly.

Even now I am faced with the choice:  will I be one in a sea of faces or one more chance for hope?  Do the people around me see the light that is shining?  In what ways could I shine brighter?  I love the movie Timeline and one of the lines from the movie I will never forget.  As one of the main characters is complaining to one of the other main characters about how historians live in the past, he tells his friend, “You make your own history.”  It is true that God calls and leads us in certain directions, but we are active participants with Him.  The choice of obedience is ours to make.  The choice to follow Christ and to seek Him with all our hearts is ours to make.  The Spirit is drawing everyone, but what makes the road that leads to life narrow is that few respond to that drawing.  Will you be one of the few?  Will you help to make that road a little wider?  Will you be the one to do that?

As for me, the choice is in front of me, but my direction is clear.  I choose to shine.  I choose to seek Christ with all my heart.  I choose to obey the calling of God to do whatever it is that He calls me to do.  I choose to wait expectantly, making the most of my time and my life.  Lord, my heart and my life is Yours.

So what will you do?  The choice is up to you.