Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Orchestra Living

Our lives are like one giant orchestra. We each have so many different gifts, talents, roles, responsibilities, and seasons of life. We have so many facets of life that are wrapped up within you and me.


You and I are orchestras. The conductor of this orchestra is God, whether we choose to acknowledge this fact or not.

Have you ever heard an orchestra tuning their instruments before a big show? It can be pretty, but it basically hurts your ears at the same time. It's a beautiful mess of sounds all jumbled up and out of order. However, as soon as the conductor lifts His hands to direct the song he knows so well, all goes quiet. Each instrument and its steward recognize the role of the conductor and they wait for His direction.

There is a peace in knowing that there is someone in charge who knows what he is doing. Someone who knows the music and will lead you where you need to go.


 Waiting for the direction of the conductor is key to the beauty of the song. If even one little section gets impatient and jumps the gun, it kind of smudges the whole effect and distracts from the beauty of the plan for those who wait.


When each musician  in the orchestra surrenders their will to be in charge and decides to follow the lead of the one in front who holds the master plan, that's when the true beauty begins to manifest itself and begins to fill the air.

 When each instrument is in accordance with the plan of the Conductor, and is content to trust His all knowing hands, everything is in order to bring forth the beauty that glorifies the writer of the song.

Its SO easy to compartmentalize our lives into areas we feel matter to God, and areas we feel do not really matter so much at all. i.e. what we say with friends from school and what we say with friends from church. How we treat our friends and how we treat our family.

Separating our lives into categories like this is like letting only half of our orchestra participate in the song He has for us. It is so not how He designed the music, nor intended it to be played.

It is not always easy to surrender the will of that little flute that I feel already plays my song so well. Or the violin that matches its song with my whining spirit that would rather have things go my way. Or the drum that plays my own beat so comfortably and easily. But if they do not give up their comfortable ways and conform to the way of the Conductor, then there will be a noticeable difference between the song of the Conductor and the song of mine.

His song will be beautiful always, but the sound of my little beating drum and my little whining violin will taint the song of His and will not give it the glory that is due. My song cannot thwart the song of His; His will go on. However, I can taint others view of His ability to conduct music well. I could be a poor representation of who He is and the beauty of His plan if I choose to ignore the tempo and the key changes and the sharps and flats.
That would be the worst realization of all. To know that because of how I ignored His instructions, His beauty was not allowed to be portrayed in that area of the orchestra.

We are all given a life to live. A symphony to play. A choice of how we are going to choose to play it. Who are you playing your symphony for?

I am choosing to trust that even in the midst of the difficult parts of this song He has given me to play, the parts where I don't know if they will just end in dismal, melancholy keys, I choose to trust that He knows where it will end. He has promised that it will end in hope and life.

 I am choosing to trust Him in the easy parts where all is sunshine and roses, because He has promised that It gets hard. And I am choosing to trust Him in all  of the crazy parts in between. I choose to trust Him to direct each part of my life and to work it all together for His glory. I know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Who can help but play His song with joy when we realize the goodness of the Lord?

May He grant us all the grace to trust His ever loving hands to lead us through the dark shadow filled valleys, to those green pastures and quiet waters where He restores our souls.

And I know this Conductor is not half as cool as Jesus, but I love this song. It makes me want to close my eyes and dance all around my house.

3 comments:

natali said...

This. was. beautiful.

Staci said...

Amazing post! thank you ellie :)

Chantelle said...

Just found you and your family's story and I'm so touched by your passion for orphans at such a young age. God bless you and keep sharing it!