Lord Speak to Me

GodReflection: When God Calls
I don’t remember the how or the why behind my participation. At the time the thought of a nudge by the Divine never crossed my mind.

It was during my junior and senior years at college. Each Sunday morning a small group of us would gather on the steps of Sewell Auditorium. We would spend a few moments together in prayer and song.

We gathered in preparation to hold worship services at the state hospital for the mentally disabled.

Prior to departure we would sing four of seven verses penned by Frances R. Havergal in 1872:

Lord, speak to me that I may speak, in living echoes of Thy tone.
As Thou has sought, so let me seek, thine erring children lost and lone.

O strengthen me, that while I stand, firm on the rock, and strong in Thee,
I may stretch out a loving hand, to wrestlers with the troubled sea.

O teach me, Lord, that I may teach, the precious things Thou dost impart;
And wing my words, that they may reach; The hidden depths of many a heart.

O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord, until my very heart overflow;
In kindling thought and glowing word, Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show.

Generally, upon arrival we served two groups of God’s children.

Those of the first group were so completely damaged in brain and body function that they were confined to bed or slumped over in wheelchairs. Limited by their zero-communication ability we were not there to teach. We were there to join with Father God who loved and hurt for His children in a few moments of prayer.

The second group was different.

These were basically children who from no fault of their own lived in group cottages because parents lacked the needed emotional and physical capacity to provide care. Years later I learned that few parents ever visited or looked back.

The little ones bubbled over with love and had no one to give it to. Over and over they would throw their arms around us and say, “I love you.” Each Sunday filled with joy they participated in simple children’s songs and thrilled with anticipation as elementary level stories flowed from our Bibles.

Based on previous Sunday encounters, we gathered each week on the steps of Sewell Auditorium and watched our prayer-song of Lord speak to me that I may speak increase to an intense plea.

Over those two years there were moments when I wondered if I didn’t hear the faint call to prepare for the ministry of service as  a state hospital chaplain. As it turned out that wasn’t to be the call.

In my last post I raised the question: Is it possible that God has called out to you throughout your life and you have responded, even though you were unaware that He direct dialed your number to speak specifically to you?

In hindsight I believe God had called me to that campus for a purpose. I was not only there to learn how to let the love of the Almighty flow through simple me into the mentally disenfranchised, but I was to learn a greater lesson.

Eight years later, in partnership with that very same campus I tapped into the experiences of those Sundays to learn how to care for a baby boy born into our home. A little boy who was so damaged that he would never recognize us as parents.

Throughout his twenty-one years of life we were called to love and hurt as we did what we could to reflect from our own hearts the heart Father God has for us all. Maybe my Sunday appointments at the state hospital were more than coincidence?

What do you think?

Can you remember times in your own walk that seemed random at the time but in hindsight and upon further reflection were more likely calls from God?

Wouldn’t we all live closer to the center of God’s dreams for each one of us if we prayed each morning, “Lord speak to me that I may speak Your tone”?

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells

A GodReflection on Lord Speak to Me. 

Gary@Godreflection.org
http://www.GodReflection.org
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