As you all know by now, I love analogies! The other day at church I had this thought (that I am about to share) come to mind in the middle of the closing prayer. I am a musician and this is such a cool analogy that I would love to tell you guys about...
Picture this: All of humanity is an orchestra with God as their conductor. God is also the composer and writes the music of life that we do our best to play (God's plan we try to follow along), but there is no such thing as a perfect and flawless performance just how there is no perfect human.
Just like you and me – we do our best to live our lives for Him, but we stumble along the way over accidentals (sharps and flats not in the key signature) and time signature changes in the music that tend to throw us off. They are just challenges given to us by God to refine us and equip us for greater things (or in this analogy, more challenging repertoire of music).
No one is perfect, and it is impossible to live a perfect life. However, it is up to us to give the music of life our everything and attempt to have our lives sing a glorifying song to God. We must tune as a band and make sure we are in harmony with each other.
In life, this means we need to form strong and faithful relationships with our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ and not have any notes out of tune (people encouraging their friends to do things contrary to the will of God). If we are out of tune with God's will for our life, it will not be a beautiful song, but it will sound awful to the ears and be excruciating to listen to.
Now, God isn't only the composer of the song of life, but He is the conductor of the entire orchestra of humanity. We must watch Him and let Him lead us when we play His song.
We must follow Him and go at His tempo (speed), not speeding up or slowing down. We cannot speed up and try to rush God's plan for our lives and get impatient with Him for not answering our prayers how or when we want Him to. And, we cannot slow down either and try to avoid the uncomfortable when God is pushing us into something for His glory and our greater good.
Sometimes, when members of the orchestra look away from the conductor, they get lost and start playing the song how they think it should go. They look at the song and not the Creator of it. They worship creation instead of Creator and play the song of life by their own will instead of the will of God's.
When musicians aren't looking at the conductor, sometimes they are instructed to "listen across" the ensemble and try to match the styles of the other musicians and tune to them. When Christians see people struggling in their unbelief, it is a perfect opportunity to try and listen to them and be the light of Christ to them, and then get them in tune with and following God the Conductor.
As with any musical ensemble, there are more seasoned musicians than others. Section leaders are selected by the conductor to train up the rookies and get them on the same level as the rest of the band. Pastors are appointed by God to do His work and mentor His children, shepherding and educating the congregation. New believers must be gently guided through and not skimmed over.
I always love the audience perspective at concerts. I have probably attended just as many (or even more) concerts than those I have played in, and let me just say, it is such an invigorating experience. I try to put myself in the position of people in the audience who are not musicians. They must be inspired by the musicians and want to be like them. In my analogy, this group represents all of the people who are lost but are looking for something more. The day-to-day life is just too much for them and the worldly things are not enough for them to fill them up. They see this group of happy musicians and long to be more like them and to possess gifts and talents to share to the world.
And then there are the critics, the haters of music, the grumpy husbands and grandfathers who are drug along to the concerts by their charismatic and arts-and-culture-loving wives. This group represents atheists who are skeptical of Christianity. Thank goodness they sometimes get drug to church and are forced to take in the message! :)
Are you in tune with God's will and offering Him up your best melody? Or are you out of tune and holding a gross note, wavering in your unbelief. Or, are you so close to matching the pitch that all you have to do is tighten your mouth on your instrument – be more disciplined with your prayer life?
I pray you enjoyed this food for thought today. Have a blessed week and continue raising your song to Him!
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