Tonight, for the first time, I went to see the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir's Gospelfest. They hold two concerts a year and from now on I am going to try to make it to each one. The whole time I went to PSU I never attended one of their concerts. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but I seemed never to be able to get the night off or had something else I took time off from work for rather than going to see these wonderful singers. There was one young man in the choir who the MC announced was about to graduate with his PhD, just before this young man came forward on the stage to sing his solo piece with the rest of the choir backing him up. The young man was so moved by the words he was singing, that he broke down in the middle of the song crying, realizing how it personally spoke to him and to all that he'd been through on his journey to become Doctor Nurse. Yes, his real last name is Nurse. (Although I am not sure if I have the spelling correct.) Here is the song:
Never Would Have Made It - Marvin Sapp
I have seen myself in that young man's shoes countless times over the years in one form or another, as I am sure all who read this and watch the video have. I have to say that I never would have made it to the point I am at now and each and every day, if it hadn't been for the faith I have come to know existed in me. Maybe some of you didn't see that coming from me, but my faith has been there much, much longer than I ever cared to admit it. It's a funny thing how some people perceive you when you openly acknowledge your faith in God. Some don't believe you, because they have see you act in "ungodly" ways, so you are perceived as a hypocrite. The most important thing I think I have learned in learning about my faith in the Lord is that it is there if I do good or I do wrong. It is just that when I do wrong, it is ME that is trying to take the reins of my life away from the Lord's hands who should have them always. When I don't like where he's leading me because I can't see what is up ahead, I struggle to hold them and steer myself. That is when things go the most wrong for me. But God doesn't ever relinquish His hold on them; He leads me where I ought to be when HE is ready for me to be there, not when I want it. It has taken me years to learn this; and I still struggle with it. I'm human. He knows it and forgives my pride and misjudgement. Thank goodness He does, because not everyone here is able to. For anyone who thinks that one "finds religion" just all of a sudden, that isn't the case. What happened with me, and what I think happens with others, is that my faith was in me all the time and finally it found it has a voice.
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