711 Seek Ye First

A graduate of Eastern New Mexico University, Karen Lafferty music, finishing with a degree in choral music and oboe.  She also played pain, saxophone and guitar.  She became interested in climbing the ladder in show business so she started singing in saloons in New Orleans.

She realized as a Christian that the saloon life in New Orleans was not what she wanted to do so she renewed her commitment to the Lord and decided to use her talents for Him.  She auditioned for the Campus Crusade for Christ's chorus but was turned down.  It didn't have to do with her musical ability but rather her maturity as a Christian; she was crushed.  She decided to give guitar lessons but ended up with only 3 students--not nearly enough to support herself.

She was feeling crushed and discouraged--at the lowest part of her life, in fact when he went to a Bible study.  During that study that night, the group looked at the passage from Matthew 6 about how God takes care of the birds of the air.  In that study was the verse, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness."  That evening she went home and began absent mindedly plucking on the guitar when suddenly this verse and melody came out.  She said, "That was it.  I went to bed and slept in peace, confident that God would do something."

One thing that is interesting as we look at many of the back-stories behind the hymns, often the writer and/or composer has spent part of their life living what we could say was an ungodly lifestyle.  However, God still uses them to do His work.