The Matthew 28:19 Project

Sometimes, it is in the smallest moments that God speaks the loudest. This week, Mom and I are in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, attending the National Quartet Convention. This is a week-long event filled with southern gospel music, fellowship, and worship. Each year, this gathering leaves a lasting impression on my heart. But this week, one theme has been impossible to ignore: the Rock.

On Wednesday night, as the Hoppers sang “I Go to the Rock.” The whole arena stood, clapping and singing, as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully among us. That’s the kind of moment I love about these conventions when God makes His presence unmistakably known. I experience this every time I attend an event such as Singing in the Sun, Family Fest, or The Quartet Convention.

The very next morning, my devotional reading was from 2 Samuel 22:47: “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior.” As soon as I read those words, the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, all other ground is sinking sand” started playing in my head.

After reading the devotional, I was working on the daily content for the Matthew 28:19 Project’s Facebook page. I needed a daily devotional, so I decided to write something that was centered around Jesus being our rock when we face difficult times. I create digital content to highlight the focus of each day’s daily devotional, which requires some additional Bible study.

Mom and I were talking later in the morning, and we both mentioned that we each had read our daily devotional, which, to our surprise, was about our rock of salvation. Later that afternoon, we attended the Gaither Homecoming Sing Along, and almost right off the bat, the rock shows up. They started singing “I Go to the Rock of My Salvation” and wove that song throughout the rest of the session. By this time, Mom and I just looked at each other and started laughing.

We heard many songs over the past few days that mentioned God as our rock or the rock of salvation, and it’s clear that God is trying to tell us something. To me, it felt like a sign that I am moving in the right direction with my daily devotionals. In fact, I’ve noticed that most of my recent devotionals were echoed in songs sung or spoken by artists. It always amazes me when this happens, and it usually occurs when I post something on our church’s Facebook page, only to see it later in sermons. However, I wasn’t expecting this to happen multiple times at the National Quartet Convention. God sure is sneaky!

As I reflect on this week, one truth stands firm: in a world filled with turmoil, anger, and darkness, God remains our Rock. He is our steady and unshakable foundation. When everything else shifts and crumbles, He alone is the foundation upon which we build our lives. And sometimes, He reminds us of that not in grand gestures, but in the little moments that stay with us.