Lessons from a Cello

The church I attend is a large church. God's presence is evident, both in the person of the Holy Spirit and in the lives of church members. Our worship is different from anything I have ever experienced. The choir has 150+ people singing on any given Sunday. God has placed many talented people within our music ministry, both singers and orchestra members. One thing we lacked, until recently, was a cello. It is wonderful to hear the mellow notes from this instrument. Little did I know that while I was enjoying the music, God was talking to me about His direction.

About a month ago we were singing the song "Holiness". It's chorus goes:

"Take my heart and form it
Take my mind transform it
Take my will conform it to Yours, to Yours, O Lord."

As I was singing, I was praying.: "God, I want You to conform my heart to Yours. I'm tired of trying to be the boss. Make me more like You." I looked down into the orchestra pit and saw the cellist. The cello is a lovely instrument but it cannot make music on its own. There must be a cellist to draw the bow across the strings. This produces sound. Then the cellist must place his fingers on the neck of the instrument, bending the strings at just the right points to produce the melody.

God does the same with us. He forms us into beautiful instruments. Though we have physical life it isn't until we allow Him to draw His bow across our hearts that we resonate with spiritual life. Then God conforms our will to His by putting pressure on us in just the right places until our lives are a pleasing melody to Him.

Unlike the cello, we can resist our Cellist. We push back against His fingers when we resist the obstacles He brings into our lives. We want blessings. It's hard to see just how pain will ever be used for our good. Living by sight, not by faith, we wonder if God really knows what He is doing. We prefer to simply drone one note because we think it means less sacrifice or loss. In this we cheat ourselves of great joy that only comes by submitting to our Master's hand. If we resist, our lives will be a joyless noise, not part of a symphony that praises the One Who made us.