Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a great morning in the Kingdom! I trust that you had a good weekend and Monday – enjoying all that God sends your way to meet the desires of your heart as you delight in who He is and what He is able to accomplish in your life. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to enable you to use the spiritual gifts that He has given you to reveal His glory.
This morning I have been drawn to a portion of Scripture: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 The Message. It is the phrase – “unforced rhythms of grace” that captures my attention – the musicology of God.
As I considered God being the Master Musician, I was challenged to pay attention to musical terminology. A few years ago when I was leading worship I had to learn how to use the metrical index so that when I wanted to use a particular song that my pianist did not know I could find one that she did. The thing is when you change the tune of a song by metrical index, you often change how a word or phrase is emphasized…so you must pay attention to the words you are singing. As well the tempo of the music changed…there are 13 different tempos in music going from ‘grave – very slow’ to ‘allegro – very quickly’ …and that could affect the atmosphere in the heart/mind of the singer. Then came another dimension called- musical dynamics that affected how softly or loudly the notes were played…8 levels from ‘pianissimo – very softly’ to ‘fortissimo – very loudly’ … again the atmosphere of the song changes. Now, have you ever thought of this when you are singing your favourite song.
I suppose we don’t think of these things when we are following the Master Musician and He is leading us through the “unforced rhythms of grace” … but I have been noticing how this relates to God’s timing and activity in our lives. There are times when He moves with ‘allegro’ – quickness and other times when He moves with ‘motto’ – moderately or ‘grave’ – very slowly. As well there are times when He speaks very gently to us – ‘pianissimo’ like the still small voice and other times when it is ‘fortissimo’ -loudly as the thunder from heaven. I am very much aware that He changes the ‘metrical index’ and takes us out of the routine so He can emphasize an aspect of our life that we were not paying attention to.
One of my favourite musical moments is when the tempo starts to increase ever so gradually and as it does the musical dynamic increases as well – “crescendo” — this usually indicates that something is about to happen. Now, the opposite is true as well…after a busy time the tempo slows and the musical dynamic decreases – “decrescendo” — this is leading to time of restoration and calmness.
When I go back to the Scripture portion – I begin to understand a little more about God the Master Musician, who “started the whole world singing” (from a Bill & Gloria Gaither song). God is taking individual lives and creating a spiritual symphony that is constantly being broadcast …and – I sense a ‘crescendo’ moment – will be part of a united choir in heaven…”da-da!”
Something to think about! – Be blessed!