Today’s Readings: Psalm 103; Malachi 3:6-12; Matthew 24:32-44; James 5:7-10; Psalm 46
I began taking piano lessons when I was 10 years old from a wonderful piano teacher back in my home town of Deer Park, WA. She taught me many things including how to read music, how to develop the technical skills necessary to play the piano, and some basic music theory that helped me broaden my ability to create music. There was one aspect of music, however, that she could not teach me. That aspect was how to incorporate my life experiences into my music. For instance, she would often say things like, “Technically, your interpretation is good - but when it comes to the rests, you probably won’t understand long to hold those rests until you turn 40.” I hated it when she said things like that, for I wanted to think that I could master each and every aspect of playing the piano immediately - at the tender age of 10. I couldn’t bear the thought of having to wait 30 more years to get something right! Now that I’m 41, however, I understand what she meant by her statement. Over the course of one’s lifetime, you acquire insights into life that instinctively help you know just how long to hold a rest in order for the music to really come alive. There was no way I could have acquired that knowledge when I was 10. Today’s passage from James makes a similar point when it comes to leading our spiritual lives. The author wrote: “Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong” (James 5:7-8 from The Message). I had to learn this lesson to be patient over and over in the early days of my ministry. So often I expected to issues to resolve themselves immediately. When I was counseling those in broken relationships, for instance, I expected them to reconcile immediately. When I was investigating opportunities for mission, I wanted to implement the options immediately. And when I was pursuing new visions of what worship could be, I wanted to implement those visions immediately. Over time, however, I learned that I couldn’t force things. Things worked best when I let “the rain do its slow but sure work”. Perhaps there are areas in your life where you have been tempted to try to force things. If so, I would urge you to ground yourself in the awareness of today’s words from James so that you can pull back and let things unfold: not in your time, but in God’s. Til next time…
I began taking piano lessons when I was 10 years old from a wonderful piano teacher back in my home town of Deer Park, WA. She taught me many things including how to read music, how to develop the technical skills necessary to play the piano, and some basic music theory that helped me broaden my ability to create music. There was one aspect of music, however, that she could not teach me. That aspect was how to incorporate my life experiences into my music. For instance, she would often say things like, “Technically, your interpretation is good - but when it comes to the rests, you probably won’t understand long to hold those rests until you turn 40.” I hated it when she said things like that, for I wanted to think that I could master each and every aspect of playing the piano immediately - at the tender age of 10. I couldn’t bear the thought of having to wait 30 more years to get something right! Now that I’m 41, however, I understand what she meant by her statement. Over the course of one’s lifetime, you acquire insights into life that instinctively help you know just how long to hold a rest in order for the music to really come alive. There was no way I could have acquired that knowledge when I was 10. Today’s passage from James makes a similar point when it comes to leading our spiritual lives. The author wrote: “Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong” (James 5:7-8 from The Message). I had to learn this lesson to be patient over and over in the early days of my ministry. So often I expected to issues to resolve themselves immediately. When I was counseling those in broken relationships, for instance, I expected them to reconcile immediately. When I was investigating opportunities for mission, I wanted to implement the options immediately. And when I was pursuing new visions of what worship could be, I wanted to implement those visions immediately. Over time, however, I learned that I couldn’t force things. Things worked best when I let “the rain do its slow but sure work”. Perhaps there are areas in your life where you have been tempted to try to force things. If so, I would urge you to ground yourself in the awareness of today’s words from James so that you can pull back and let things unfold: not in your time, but in God’s. Til next time…
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