I was recently looking through some of the songs I’ve written over the years for one I hadn’t posted here before. Lo and behold, “I’m Yours; Send Me” turned out to be just what I was hoping to find.
For years I had wanted to write a simple round. As you can see from the lyric sheet, available for free here, I only wrote it out as a two-part round. It might work with three, though, but I discovered I couldn’t make a new recording with three, so I quit trying and settled on two. Both voices are mine. You may listen to it here.
I have to be honest, though. My recording from many years ago is better. Maybe it’s my hearing, but I can’t tell if the old one might have three voices, also all mine. Check it out here if you’d like to compare.
The lyrics are simple…
When the Lord addresses you,
How will you respond to Him?
When He asks, “Who’ll go for me?”
Will you say, “I’m Yours; send me”?
and they are adapted from Isaiah 6:8 (New English Translation)
I heard the voice of the Lord say,
“Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?”
I answered, “Here I am, send me!”
I had been familiar with Isaiah 6:8 most of my life. But I didn’t have Isaiah’s spirit of servanthood and obedience. Not in my early years as a Christian. Developing even a little bit of that attitude has taken years. Many of them. I can’t say they were “wasted,” though. I believe God used that time to grow me in certain areas that would better qualify me to “go.”
At the same time, though, I’ve long had a heart for missions. Just not missions I would have to go somewhere to do. Working in Information Technology at the International Mission Board gave me a special thrill because of the way it allowed me to participate actively in missions behind the scenes. Safely. Without having to go.
And then I heard about an available, two-week mission trip to Australia. Who wouldn’t want to go to Australia? But on a mission trip? Hmm. Was that my call to go? The one I’d never wanted to hear before?
The answer was yes, and that trip changed my life. I fell in love with short-term mission trips. They’ve been mostly hard work–definitely not vacations.
I was dying to go back to Australia, and I had another opportunity. But it didn’t feel right that time. Did God have something else in mind? I learned of a mission trip to Wales. Wales? Hmm. Not as exciting as Oz, but was I willing to give up Australia if Wales was what God had in mind?
Apparently so.
I’ve always felt that forgetting about where I wanted to go and going where I felt I should go constituted my ultimate “Here am I. Send me.”
Are you ready to go where God directs you? Or will you hesitate? Will you hem and haw and make excuses the way I spent much of my life doing? Or will you take one step forward and say, “Send me”?
I’m working on novel #25. All of my books are available in both print and Kindle editions. You may move quickly to my Amazon Author page by using the QR code on the graphic depicting all of my novels. DOXXI NO MORE, pictured below, is a fun read. My apology for cover pictures that I only just discovered weren’t showing up in the published post.
Links you might be interested in:
As I Come Singing. . . 