Once again, Marveling at the Hand of God

Come Thou fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by Thy great help I've come.
And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.
He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood

Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constraint to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter; bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander Lord I feel it prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart Oh take and seal it.  Seal it for thy courts above.

I sang this hymn at church this past Sunday.  A Canadian church, pastured by an East Indian converted Seik, sitting between two young addicts.  Both young ladies wanted to go to church today, persevering amidst their methadone* drowsiness & lethargy, wanting to respond to a yearning deep within them.  Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood. These words really grabbed me today.  I was overwhelmed by the presence of God who in spite of the continued pull of the things of this world, will still draw them to Himself.  Jackie, is 4 months pregnant, has a common law husband/boyfriend in prison.  She has night terrors too often that disrupt her sleep and send her into depression.  When she was young, her stepfather used to wake her up in the night and make her watch him beat her mother.  He would also beat her and her siblings.  Dena has one foot in a life trying to recover from her addictions and abuses, but still with her other foot out there.  She is pulled by the lure of money falling back into her old lifestyle.  I kept my arm around her during much of the service to steady her as the effects of the methadone kept pulling her to sleep.  It was my joy to be with these girls there, ushering them into the presence of the Lord.  After, they thanked me and said it made them feel good to be there. Neither one of them had been to church in a long time.   It is no small task for girls like them to come to church.  A church where families consist of mom and dad and cute, well dressed children.  A church where everyone dresses just so, and looks just so.  Did these girls fit in? NO did they stand out? YES I praise God that they didn’t let that pressure keep them from coming.  God loved having them there!!  He received them with open arms!!     Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constraint to be!  Let Thy goodness like a fetter; bind my wandering heart to thee.  We all come to Jesus as a sinner, in need of grace.  All of our hearts get pulled away from the Lord from time to time.  I pray that we all will take our wandering hearts back to the one who loved us and died for us.

* Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever, similar to morphine. It also reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to heroin or other narcotic drugs without causing the "high" associated with the drug addiction.