No Rest

My soul is not at rest within,
My heart for action calls,
For I have seen the chains of sin,
Have shuddered at its galls.

The vows of God upon my life,
Constrain all strength and nerve.
His call has pierced me as a knife;
Him only will I serve!

The voice of loved ones, freedom, fame,
Have all grown strangely dim;
My heart’s desire’s now informed,
To fully follow Him!

He was a man of sorrows, grief
His footsteps now I trace;
Dare I search out selfish relief,
While He has run the race?

But, no! I too shall fight the fight
Which He has planned for me!
No matter what the cost of right,
E’en this my cause shall be:

To tell of all His wond’rous love,
Salvation’s call so free.
And point souls to my Lord above
Who’s done so much for me.

You think it as a sacrifice
To leave this secure land,
Forsaking comforts oh, so nice
And houses which are grand;

But I am thinking of my Lord
Who left His deity,
Upon the ground His blood was poured
Purchased salvation free.

So someday, in a far-off land
My dying eyes I’ll lift,
To gaze on Afric’s burning sand,
My life lay down—a gift.

Then when on heaven’s golden shore
The natives sing His praise;
My heart with joy shall swell yet more
And there thanksgiving raise!