In the meantime, here is a worship devotional from my co-authored book, Times of Refreshing. Hopefully it will bring a smile and a word of inspiration to your day.
Imperfect Scores
Arlen Salte
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out
fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
It was my first recording
session with an orchestra. I was 21. Writing for an orchestra wasn’t exactly a
skill that I’d picked up playing the Rolling Stones songs in my rock band
days. Mick Jagger could certainly pout
and prance but I don’t think he cared too much for the oboe.
The moment of truth arrived when
the orchestra showed up. They filled the
studio, took their chairs, tuned their instruments and started looking at the
score I had written. They ran through
the pieces. The lush sounds gave me
goose bumps. I was in heaven.
But something was about to suddenly
change my mood. These fabulous players
couldn’t control themselves any longer.
Laughter came rolling through the expensive microphones. The conductor showed me that I had placed the
stems on the wrong sides of many of the notes.
Needless to say, this was the last time I transcribed my parts by hand
for an orchestra.
Quite frankly, I was so
embarrassed that day that I wanted to pack in the entire idea of music. I had shown my ignorance in front of all
these awarded musicians.
But I take great courage in the
following true story.
There was a man who desperately
wanted to be a conductor. He put his
very heart and soul into it. During soft
passages, he would signal the orchestra by crouching low. During loud passages he’d leap into the air
with enthusiasm. He’d even shout to the
orchestra in excitement.
But despite his passion, he was
not exactly blessed with a great memory.
In concert he once forgot that he had instructed the orchestra not to
repeat a section. As instructed, the
orchestra didn’t repeat the section. He
lost his temper, yelling at the orchestra for not repeating the section. He was horribly embarrassed!
For his very own piano concerto,
he tried conducting from the piano. He
thought he could do it all. At one
moment in the concert, he leaped from the piano bench, knocking the candles from
the piano. At another concert, he
knocked over a choirboy.
His hearing started to rapidly
deteriorate which left him with even bigger challenges. Not only did he have a bad memory, a clumsy body
and a poorly controlled temperament; now he couldn’t hear well. It got so bad that the orchestra started to
get their cues from the first violinist, rather than from the inept conductor.
After great pleas from the
musicians to give up conducting, he finally gave up and went home.
His name; Ludwig Van
Beethoven.
While he is one of the greatest
composers the world has ever known, he was a failure as a conductor. But this did not make him a failure as a
person. He pushed beyond his fear of
failure to take on new challenges and the world is richer for it.
One of the most inhibiting fears
is the fear of failure. This is the fear
that has stopped great moments throughout human history.
This may also be a fear that has
stopped you from taking new steps in your ministry. Maybe you have become constricted because you
failed before. Maybe you tried to play
by ear before and it sounded like you actually were playing with your ears. Maybe you stretched out to try a vocal solo
but that little hormonal demon of adolescence made you yodel instead.
Or maybe you wrote orchestral
arrangements for an album but you put the stems on the wrong sides of the
notes.
Whatever your past failures may
be, they may have limited your reach.
Now, God is asking you to take great new strides. Yet you fear the embarrassment of past
failure so much that you remain in your comfort zone.
This is why it is so important
to ground our ministries in God’s love and not in legalism. We need to know that whether our efforts gain
great applause or rotten tomatoes, God’s view of us does not change. His love is with us no matter what side we
have placed the stems of the notes on.
This gives us freedom to try new things in ministry, knowing that we
will never be viewed as a failure in the eyes of God.
In our Bible verse today, we see
that there is no fear in love. God’s
love sets us free to spread our wings and to face the possibility of failure
head on. Perfect love drives out
fear. When we know that we are perfectly
loved by the creator and sustainer of all life, the highest authority in the
universe, the one who holds planets in their orbits; we are freed to take great
steps of faith. When we know that our
failure in the eyes of the “crowd” is really nothing to fear at all, then we
are free to stretch.
Who knows how many great songs
or poems or voices have gone to their graves because of a fear of failure?
But as a child of God, you have
been given a new authority in ministry. God is waiting for His children to step
out in the authority that comes with the gift of grace. Do you have past failures that are holding
you back? In God, there are always new
beginnings.
Today, I challenge you to live
in the reality of God’s grace. Step out of your comfort zone. Spread your
wings, knowing that God’s perfect love for you drives out the fear of
failure. Have you been challenged to learn
how to sing alto? Do you need to dust
off that old Hofner Beetle bass from the ‘60’s? Take the step.
I still have those original
orchestral scores in my files but now I don’t look at them with shame. I see them as another step taken in the
reality of God’s grace. Every day, we’re
called on to write imperfect scores. God
wants to use the ink of your life poured out for others. Let’s get writing!
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