We ARE the orchestra!

Yesterday morning i woke up with Casting Crowns' song "Oh My Soul" (go ahead and look it up on YouTube, I'll wait.) the lyrics remind me that when i feel powerless, overwhelmed and fearful, that fear, when we seek God for help, MUST face the God we know. Listening to the lyrics in the dark of my room that morning, felt SEEN in my emotional turmoil as the words identified the gnawing distraction of things i have no control over. Those distractions (and the accusations that came with them) stole my peace of mind and kept me from being effective with what i did have the ability to affect. then Jim Nabors died. and someone posted "that" scene from the old TV program "Gomer Pyle USMC" His character is a goofy, country hick with a wonderfully charming southern accent and a wide eyed wonder about so many things he experiences and his most remembered phrase was "Shazam!" when he was surprised by something or made some great revelation that had not occurred to him before. He was innocent, and clumsy, not too bright but all heart with a deep enthusiasm for life and humble goodness. That was the character he played. In "real life", Jim Nabors could also sing! he sold lots of records and his most famous song was "The Impossible Dream" (I'm including the link to part of the episode in question, so watch that too!) As I watched the clip and heard him sing those words i didn't just feel SEEN i felt EMPOWERED. We are all believers in something. ourselves, our relationships, our health and ability to do what we need to do and want to accompish, and lots of other things. Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, come to believe that God created us for a purpose, with great intentionality, to fulfill and add value to this world and the people in it. The stakes are higher than we know and the bar is set far beyond our ability to reach on our own - for a reason. We were MEANT to fulfill that purpose in concert with others and with our Creator, the One Who's holding the blueprints for the whole enchillada. And as with any orchestral piece where the picolo's sound and place in the symphony is necessary but is very different from the tuba or the violin, we all have different notes to play, at different times in this life. None of the notes, none of the intruments none of the timing for the lulls and crescendos are in our control. Sometimes a section of the piece may seem out of place or unnecessary. but they're not. Not Ever. Every note is crucial in the success of the whole. that is why there is a very active enemy who wants to distract us from the music, from the task we have at hand, from our piece of the symphony. He's purposely trying to take you out. He doesn't want the show to go on as planned. He doesn't want the dissonant movements to resolve. He doesn't want the members of the orchestray to hear the applause and feel that satisfaction when the last note is played and each heart is swelling with the uniting theme in perfect harmony at the direction of the Conductor. He's messing with our music sheets, gumming up our instruments, playing a distracting counter-theme to convince us we can't keep playing united in theme and purpose with the Conductor.But we CAN ingnore the distractions. we CAN keep playing our part in our section in our key using our instrument for the contribution to the symphony! One day, one moment at a time, keep playing, keep looking at the conductor. there are rests and periods of time when you don't play. there are times when the notes don't seem to fit, but those times are resolved later in the symphony - believe me! i've seen it time and time again. The dark wanderings in the larger woodwinds and brass flow into The most exultant swells of the whole ....and it's heart-stoppingly beautiful. Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed, feeling anxious,feeling insignificant or discouraged - the Impossible Dream isn't impossible if you keep putting one foot (one note) in front of the other and take courage from your Conductor and the others in your orchestral section - and play your part. <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJlgio-UOng