You all have been working so hard, I have found a way to give you a full paid vacation where we can all meet and relax...

Take a deep breath, and close your eyes... and then read this...

..errr, wait a minute - maybe have someone else read it.. you go back to the relaxed eye closed, mind resting position...

I think we should all go on vacation to the Hawaiin shores of Kauai, where I will bring you papaya fruit drinks as you sit back in your hammock stretched out on the beach front between two palm trees. The gentle breeze of warm air scented with ocean water is wafting across you keeping you sedated and calm. The brilliant colors of the coastline show the deep green overgrowth of the Napali Coast as it stretches out before your view.

The nice man who drove your limo is reading a magazine under a sunshaded table about 40 feet away, waiting your every command for transportation. The gentle soothing sound of music that was coming from the hotel open air restaurant has ebbed a little louder. The Princeville resort is the finest on the island and you are not sure just how you ended up there, but hey this is a daydream so don't worry.. This music builds slightly and you start to recognize the melody. Pleasantly surprised, you look up and humm that tune again. You can't quite remember it. As you are looking back to the hotel from the beach, you notice the georgeous mountainsides of the Napali Coast again. The mountains, the ocean... that's it! "over the mountains and the sea, your river runs.."

You realize the melody is from Martin Smiths' " I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever". Then you look intently at the band playing. No. It can't be! Kevin Prosch and Kent Henry are sitting just playing the song. Both in beach cloths, Kevin's guitar is playing gentle synchopated rhythms and Kent's keyboards are supporting and expressing freedom around the melody line, but not competing with the vocalist singing the song. Who is that singing? You can't quite see. What a voice... breathless notes and amazing slides- yes, it is, Twila Paris. What sounds..

You rest into a chair at an open table. Your closest friend in the world reaches over and says

"Hi! Hey where have you been, isn't this great?"

Then the whole restaurant crowd stands up and lifts their hands. Most of them, not yet Christians, look awkward, but not ashamed. They need to lift their hands and worship, but they just can't quite understand why. They know they need God, and this seems like the only way to reach out to Him, since their whole lives have been models of rejecting His reaching out to them. Many fall and begin to weep. Some smile bigger than they have ever smiled. The joy of God almost bursts out of some, sounding strangely like laughing.

You lift up your hands. This is awesome! You love God so much, you just can't express it. Then you feel a tug on your sleeve. You open your eyes. The person who nudged you points to the band. You look over. They are motioning for you to walk towards them. You go up to Kent and Kevin and say "yes"? One of them says,

"Hey"!

You don't know whether it is Kent or Kevin because your eyes are still so blurry with tears from God's presence.

"I am going to just go around and start leading people to Jesus, but we need someone to keep leading the worship. You just sit down here and play and lead. The other guy (he jokes referring the either Kent or Kevin - you still can't see clearly your eyes are starting to come back to focus, though) here will sit and play along with you, just don't lead him in the dust... and keep on worshiping and keep on leadin' these people to Jesus with the worship music."

He leaves and goes out to the crowd and starts praying for folks and watching God's mercy add to the church those that were being saved that day.

You sit down. You don't know how long it has been since you played, but now it seems like it might have been an eternity since you are starting to compare yourself to the famous worship leader/musician next to you. But then he says,

"Hey relax, and just lead us in worship, I'll just follow you along".

So you start playing. The annointing of God falls on your heart and you realize how much He loves you. You begin to sing out and instinctively the rest of the band is caught up, right on time and right with each other, each part playing perfectly with the whole band and the complete sound making one melodious note after another that reach the ears of the Father. Then, you are almost crushed by the enormous power of God's presence. Your hands dance across your instrument and you can actually play what you are thinking in your head, and what you are hearing in your heart.

You see your family walking out of the hotel towards the restaraunt area, all of them weeping. Everyone of your relatives, that have hardened their hearts towards God, are weeping listening to the music that says "we love You Jesus." You turn to a person who just walked up. You say,

"Here, you lead now, I need to go introduce some of my family to Jesus".

The person who you ask to lead begins immediately, and the power of the Lord is released even more. You hear the sound of doors from a nearby parking lot where dozens of people are parking constantly as they walk towards the beach area where God is being poured out. Not only are you not envious of the person now leading worship, you notice how she incorporated a bit of the good things you did in your leading, but added her own flavor too. In fact, you are just incredibly aware how God used you to pass on something to the new worship leader, just by your example of worshiping. You are glad she is now building on where you left off, and you feel very proud of her, like she is a younger sister who just graduated from school.

You walk over to your family members you saw earlier and begin to share Jesus with them.

After they all come to Christ you sit back down with your family. You talk to them and tell them what just happened (being new to Jesus, they are wondering why they feel so much lighter, as though a weight was lifted off their shoulders). Once you tell them how great God's mercy is for them, they say

"Hey, well then let's all go and talk to these people just arriving. I am sure they would love know about God's mercy towards them, too."

You walk off with them towards the coming crowds with that tune still rumbling around in your head... "I could sing of your love forever, I could sing of your love forever..."

Then you realize it. Hey, I am just being me! I am just doing what I do and what God made me to do. I can be upfront when needed, or I can step down too. I can minister in music, or I can tell my family about You, Jesus. Or, I can just sit and love You. It is so neat how You are just using all of us Lord. Each in our own time, and all with different personalities and gifts and blessings. Wow, I really love you Lord. I really do. I just can't get that tune out of my head... "I could sing of your love forever, I could sing of your love forever, I could sing of your love forever, I could sing of your love forever..."

Remember - we're all part of the team!

Love and mercy in the Lamb,
Kim

©1996 Kim Anthony Gentes
This short story may be duplicated and distributed freely provided you are not using it to make financial gain beyond the re-embursement of any costs incurred in the duplication or distributing of it.