THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO RANDY TRAVIS
T. WIELAND ALLEN
Everybody wants to hear good news. Nobody wants to hear bad news except a few people who are addicted to bad news and get an adrenaline rush from hearing it. Good news gives a different adrenaline rush. It gives a joyful rush that comes from the joyful adrenaline in the body.
Gospel means good news. Anywhere we hear good news we are hearing portions of the gospel. Good news can come through testimonies, through the news media, through reading stories, through movies and through the good news shared by people who have experienced a production of the good news of what God has done in their lives.
A wonderful friend told me a testimony not long ago which sent a rush of joy through my mind and body. She had been emotionally wounded by a person in authority in her church and she was disappointed in the person as well as wounded emotionally. She prayed and prayed for the person and herself, but still had the soreness of a wounded heart that remained. She heard a song on the radio in her car and it was a song written by Randy Travis, also sung by him. The words to the song that she heard were ,"Don't sell your saddle 'cause life's a long, long ride." My friend knew by that song that she should never let anyone rob her of her peace, because she will need it eventually on the long, long road of life. That good news did the work in the mind of my friend so that the burden lifted from her and she was able to forgive the person and move on. I immediately called it The Gospel According to Randy Travis because of the immediate working of a miracle in the mind of my friend, changing her thoughts from negative and judgmental to positive and forgiving. She was unburdened, which is what good news is meant to do. Little did I know at the time that the Gospel According to Randy Travis would help me in my life and also help other people in their lives.
I was so thrilled with what the song had done in the life of my friend that I used the story to teach at a Bible Study that week. I used the words of the song to emphasize the truth that we should not let anyone be the lord of our lives by allowing them to steal our peace. It was a huge lesson to all of us and all of the ladies grabbed onto that truth fiercely.
On the way home from teaching about that spiritual truth on that particular day I started down the small incline in the street that leads to my driveway. At the top of the hill I started to look at the back yard cater-cornered across the street from me that has been in disarray for at least five years. The fence had once been downed as a result of a tree falling on it, and the neighborhood association had paid for that to be fixed. We appealed to the owner of the house, asking him to reimburse the association for the cost, which he graciously did. After a few more years of looking at the horrible mess in his back yard, I began to plan to buy eight feet long and six feet high fencing sections, just enough to hide the debris that was the result of an ice storm five years ago which had been piled high in the corner of the yard for that entire time, which included downed trees, limbs, overgrown grass, etc. It was an eyesore. I am so glad I did not purchase the sections of fencing because there was a better plan in the working because of the Gospel According to Randy Travis, the truth in his song about not allowing anyone to rob you of your peace.
Coming home from teaching my friend's story and the truth in the song, I was meditating on the truth in the song. While driving home, as I started to look again at the debris which was piled high, as was my regular habit to do, the thought came to my mind, "Why are you looking at all of that debris when you can turn your head just a little bit to the left and look at your own beautiful yard?" That thought didn't originate with me because I had never thought of that solution before. I had regularly been thinking bad thoughts about the doctor who owned the house, but I had never thought about refusing to look at the debris and instead looking at my own beautiful flowers and well trimmed lawn.
Also, the thought crossed my mind that if I should bless the man who owned the house instead of having bad feelings for him because of his back yard, and if I would pray for him instead of being impatient with him, in a very short time the man would be influenced to clean up his yard. Somehow, in my mind, I began to believe that would actually happen, all because of the Gospel According to Randy Travis, never letting anyone rob me of my peace. Yes, I had actually allowed the debris in the yard to rob me of peace of mind every time I glanced at that yard, which was several times a day. After hearing the story told to me by my friend, I knew that I would need the peace that I had lost many times in my life.
I obeyed that still small voice of wisdom that had spoken truth to me, and I did not look again at the debris in the neighbor's yard; but, instead, I gazed at my beautiful flowers in my own yard every time I drove up and down the street. While mowing my yard, every time I started to look across the street at the debris I stopped myself and looked at my own flowers. I also regularly blessed the owner every time I chose to look at my own beautiful yard. Somehow, it wasn't hard to do because of the truth in that song by Randy Travis. I was enjoying my peace of mind and was determined not to let that debris rob me again.
Interestingly, I was kind of excited at the prospect that maybe the thought in my mind was right and because I had changed my attitude toward the owner of the house, choosing to bless him and pray for him instead of entertaining judgmental thoughts about him, maybe, just maybe, the day would come when the huge back yard with the piles of debris would be cleaned completely. I had an excitement along with the peace that came from not looking at the debris.
After blessing the owner several times a day and refusing to lose my peace of mind over the five year long collection of debris in the yard, one morning I rose from bed early and heard a strange sound. It was a beep, beep, beeping sound, Thinking it might be my smoke alarms, I tested them and they were fine. The thought came to mind to go outside and check to see if the sounds were coming from outside. Sure enough, they were. Even thought it was seven o'clock in the morning it wasn't difficult to follow the sounds. They were coming from the doctor's yard, the one filled with debris. There were two front loading tractors in that yard scooping up all of the piles of debris and depositing it into huge trash receptacles that had been moved onto the property. I was astounded. I was elated. I was dumbfounded. I was grateful. It had only been a week since I had stopped thinking judgmental thoughts about the owner and had started blessing him. The debris had been there five years and after I stopped judging the owner, started praying for him and blessing him, the cleanup process had begun.
I was in awe of God. I was in awe of the Gospel According to Randy Travis. I was in awe of the Spirit of God who gives us wisdom and insight into how to let go and let God do His work instead of us trying to do his work in our own meager, ineffective ways. Obviously my previous ways had not worked since the debris had been there for five years. But, after only a week of letting go, refusing to look at the debris and instead looking at my beautiful yard, praying for the owner and blessing him, it only took God a week to start with the cleanup of the yard. It was so simple and yet so astounding. One week of being positive instead of negative had paid off with a huge reward.
There was so much work to be done that bigger tractors were also brought in. It took two weeks to completely rid the yard of that debris. I was so excited that I wanted to go stand and watch the work being done, much like a little boy watching and imagining himself driving the tractors. I didn't, but I sure wanted to. There is a new fence already installed. I don't know what the owner has planned to do in that huge expanse of a lot, but it looks beautiful to me just cleared out and cleaned up.
The lessons I learned were big ones. One is that God cannot answer our prayers when we are judging someone for something that is none of our business. I also learned that I have a choice of what to gaze upon, either something good or something bad and if I constantly gaze at something bad I will lose my peace of mind and eventually get into conflict with someone. In addition, I learned that God can work so much more efficiently and expeditiously when we forgive people and bless them instead of judging them in our minds. I learned that I had bound the debris to myself by thinking judgmental thoughts about the owner of the property, but when I let go of it and stopped judging the man, God took it into His own powerful hands and accomplished what I wanted all along, which was to get the property cleared out and cleaned up. He gave me the desires of my heart after I let go, regained my peace of mind, and allowed God to do His work without my negative help.
I love to call those truths the Gospel According to Randy Travis because it is good news, good news that started with the words to one of his songs dedicated to his daddy, "Don't sell your saddle, 'cause life is a long, long ride." I will remember the truth of it and will endeavor not to let anybody or anything rob me of my peace of mind. God works so much better when we get out of the way and give him permission to do His mighty, powerful works. How God moved on that owner to begin clearing the property is not any of my business. That's God's business. I'm just enjoying the peace of mind that I am determined never to lose again.
Life is a long, long stretch of time within which lots of things that will happen. Don't let anyone or anything rob you of your peace of mind. Keeping your mind at peace with everyone while strolling on the paths of life releases the power of God to work in your behalf. Just think, you'll retain your peace of mind, plus you'll have the benefit of receiving the answers to all of your prayers, as proven by the Gospel According to Randy Travis.
