mis·sion: an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel.
For years God had been nudging me to go on a mission trip. The Webster’s dictionary definition of a mission is “an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel.” Do you see that? An important assignment. But in my human mind I battled with so many questions. How, Lord, how? I wrestled with all the reasons and excuses why I couldn’t go. How could I leave my family for that long? I know God qualifies the called, but was I really called? Was I really qualified? How could I afford it? What if I met a beautiful child at an orphanage and wanted to bring them home? The list of haunting doubts was endless.
One day while going on a walk, God spoke to me as He always does. He rearranged my thoughts like He was unscrambling letters on a Scrabble board, highlighting them with His heavenly highlighter like a Kingdom crossword puzzle. His directive to me was clear. “You need to focus on the WHO, not the HOW. Just rearrange the letters. This isn’t about you, it’s about Me and My assignment for you.” I knew He was right. And in that moment, I learned a monumental lesson. Y’all (for those of you that don’t speak Southern, that’s “all of you, all of y’all, you all, all of you guys/girls,” etc.),
“I learned that in order to see God show up, you have to faith it ‘till you make it!”
In 2017, at what seemed like the worst possible time, God gave me the opportunity to join Brave Worship on a mission trip to Scotland. I questioned the Lord incessantly. Scotland? A beautiful country across the pond? What about Haiti and the orphanages I long to visit? What about third-world countries, God? I couldn’t understand why, of all places, God would choose Scotland.
It was later that I realized God sent me to Scotland to learn about the land and the Revivalists who breathed the Word into the rolling green hills hundreds of years ago. He sent me to Scotland to learn about the people who live there, less than 2% of whom attend church or even know about the Word. I learned about the hearts of the men and women I travelled with and received healing in my own heart through the affirmation of His spirit and obedience to His voice.
While on that trip, His voice kept calling me back to songwriting. It was as if the Lord said, “oh, and while you’re there, I want you to use your gift of songwriting and go write songs in a castle. And not songs for country music, not songs for Christian music, not songs for pop music, but songs for Kingdom music. On Earth as it is in Heaven music.”
“When we walk, crawl, or sprint by faith into situations that seem impossible, God doesn’t just show up, He shows off! He steps onto the stage, gives us a glorious show, and then instead of taking a bow, gives us an encore at the end.”
Despite the fact that I wasn’t in a third-world country, I shed so many tears while in Scotland. Tears of gratitude, tears of worship, tears of empathy, tears of conviction, and tears of praise. I climbed mountains, literally and figuratively. I wrote songs and songs were written in me. I learned that early Covenanters in Scotland wore red scarves around their necks to signify they knew the Word and would share it with anyone who would hear, and thus were referred to as “rednecks.” So own it, y’all…being a “redneck” isn’t derogatory, it’s an honor! I learned about Harry Potter, George Whitefield, John Wesley, rainbows, wells, chapels, and castles. As our Penny Whistle travel agent says, I learned that “facts inform, but truth transforms.” I got to partner with God and beautify His Word with melodies, sing over His land, and complete His special assignment just for me.
George Whitefield once said, “they won’t remember my sermon, but they’ll remember my song.” Your special melody might be woven inside of coaching, singing, writing, crocheting, designing, selling, teaching, preaching, painting…the list goes on and on.
It is part of your assignment, on earth as it is in heaven. Identify it. Commit to it. And now, go faith it ‘till you make it!
Songs of Scotland Team with Ray Hughes at Cambuslang Park. It was in this place that George Whitfield led congregations of many thousands in prayer and worship during the revival of 1742.
Writer
Tonya Stout
Kingdom Warrior, Songwriter, Entrepreneur