“… And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God, my God.” Psalm 43:4

Last week Brett and I attended a small opera put on by the college where he teaches. The show started late and we waited impatiently while the orchestra members randomly practiced their own pieces. It sounded like a conglomerated mess. When the overdue actors indicated they were ready to begin the show, the conductor took his place and raised his baton. Silence ensued for a few long moments before the conductor waved his arms and the quiet in the auditorium  filled with the harmonious vibrations of bows on well tuned strings, the soft beating of the mallets on the timpani, and the airy sound of the wood winds combined with the vibrant brass. Each orchestra member played the music in front of them. They didn’t try to take someone else’s music and play it, nor did anyone stand on their chair and wildly play a piece to draw attention to themselves. Can you imagine what the song would have sounded like if everyone had moved their sheet music over by one stand? Harmony would have exited the auditorium and discord and cacophony would have walked in an set up a dictatorship. 

God is our composer and conductor. He has written a song for our lives. Before we choose to serve God our life is like the orchestra before the conductor picked up his baton, a conglomerated mess of lives ruled by a multitude of self directed conductors. But when we choose to serve God, the one true conductor, we play the music as he has composed it.  

Aspen takes violin lessons. When she practices she needs to tune each string to the correct note. When she first started tuning her violin there were times she couldn’t seem to get it right. She would give up and practice out of tune. My ears protested the nomadic notes who had wandered off the trail and I would take the violin and tune it for her. 

 Pretend for a moment your heart is like the lyre. The lyre is a string instrument and like any stringed instrument needs to be tuned. The true beauty of a musical piece can not be enjoyed unless the strings are in tune.  Likewise the true beauty of what our life was meant to be will be missed if we are not in tune with God’s will for our lives. Each string of my heart needs to be tuned to the will of God. My heart needs to be ready to do his will in all situations. When I hear God strike the note I need to be willing to bring my heart into tune with His. One out of tune string leads to many discordant notes and the song played out by my heart will not be the beautiful melody the original composer intended. When we are true to the notes  God plays out for us our life will be a beautiful song of worship and praise to our Father. He will lean in and listen, delighted in our beauty.