Reason #608
Aaron went to play basketball with some guys from church tonight, so I decided I'd make the most of my night alone and clean the house. A lady I work with told me that she always cleans on Thursday night, so I gave it a try and I think it is an ingenious idea. That way, you don't have to spend the whole weekend doing chores. I was vacuuming the office and I decided I'd take a little break, sit down at the keyboard, and see if I could remember any of my old piano recital songs. I haven't played the piano in at least a decade. I took lessons for a few years when I was younger, but I stopped when I got to high school. I really wish I would have stayed with it. Anyway, I figured it would be a long shot for me to remember anything. I started to pick around a little bit and slowly a few things began to come back to me. Muscle memory kicked in, and I won't lie, I was feeling very proud of myself. I'm no Beethoven, and I never was, but for a second I kind of looked like I knew what I was doing. Of course, Scout is my only witness. Truth be told, there are certain things I'd rather not do in front of other people and playing the piano is one of them.
Aaron plays the piano really well. He doesn't read music, he just sits down and starts making music. Really, it's quite impressive. He hits all sorts of keys and it sounds really good. If I tried that, it'd be a nightmare. I don't have the ability or talent to play like he does, and I'm not sure that I ever will. Some people are just naturally gifted and the rest of us have to work at it if we want to make something of ourselves. But sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I would have hung in there and kept trying. What if I hadn't stopped taking lessons and stopped playing all together? What if I would have pushed myself even when it was really hard and difficult? I wonder where I would be now. I wonder if I'd have the ability to just sit down and play a song without having to think or struggle through it.
I feel really convicted when I stop and think about this. Not necessarily conviction over the decision to stop taking piano lessons. But I wonder how many times in life God has given me an opportunity to do something, to learn something new, to be stretched and challenged, and to be used in a particular way, and I've just dropped it because it was too hard. It wasn't "fun" anymore, it was becoming a lot of work and it wasn't as enjoyable as it had started out to be and so I gave up. I threw in the towel and took the easy road. After all, knowing how to play the piano isn't going to make or break a person. Yet who's to say that maybe the Lord didn't have me in lessons so that He could grow that talent in order to use it some day?
I see that I've done this with a lot of things in life. I want to have talents, abilities, knowledge, special gifts, and what not but I don't want to have to work for them. I just want to want them and then they'll happen. I want everything to come easy to me, to be a natural at it. But I realize that if I really wanted to do something and be successful at it, I could. I'd just have to try. Try and be committed. Push myself and stretch myself. Not give up, and not take what seems to be the easy way out. Because when we do that, we miss out on a lot of what could have been. We miss out on a lot of potential joy and blessings. And when we give up on something because it seems too hard, we're crazy to think that we aren't actually creating even more work for ourselves in the event that we ever want to give it another shot someday.
Well, obviously, and unfortunately, we can't all be good at everything. Some people are really good at a lot of things, and some are good at only a few things. But what if we looked at the things in our lives as opportunities God has given us to glorify Him. Opportunities to learn and grow so that He can use us in different ways. Lessons for being His light. Maybe then we'd realize the importance of hard work and we'd do it. Maybe then we'd understand that just because things don't come naturally or easy doesn't mean we shouldn't do them, it just means we need the Lord's help even more to be successful in those areas. It may not lead to fame or fortune. It may be a gift that only a few people know you have. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that whatever we do, we do it to the glory of the Lord being sure to give Him all the thanks and gratitude for giving us the opportunity and the ability.
So don't give up. Keep pushing through it. Don't waste all of your hard work because if you do, you'll never know what you missed out on. You'll never know what could have come from it. In my opinion, it's just better to hang in there, stick with it, and never have to wonder or ask what if. And if you do it, whatever it is you're trying to get through, and you honor the Lord whether it's really good or not so good, He'll be sure to bless your faithfulness and use it in some really incredible ways that bring glory to His name as He shines through that very talent, gift, opportunity, or ability He has graciously given to you.
#608 - For the opportunities He gives us to learn, grow, be stretched, and be used.
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Aaron plays the piano really well. He doesn't read music, he just sits down and starts making music. Really, it's quite impressive. He hits all sorts of keys and it sounds really good. If I tried that, it'd be a nightmare. I don't have the ability or talent to play like he does, and I'm not sure that I ever will. Some people are just naturally gifted and the rest of us have to work at it if we want to make something of ourselves. But sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I would have hung in there and kept trying. What if I hadn't stopped taking lessons and stopped playing all together? What if I would have pushed myself even when it was really hard and difficult? I wonder where I would be now. I wonder if I'd have the ability to just sit down and play a song without having to think or struggle through it.
I feel really convicted when I stop and think about this. Not necessarily conviction over the decision to stop taking piano lessons. But I wonder how many times in life God has given me an opportunity to do something, to learn something new, to be stretched and challenged, and to be used in a particular way, and I've just dropped it because it was too hard. It wasn't "fun" anymore, it was becoming a lot of work and it wasn't as enjoyable as it had started out to be and so I gave up. I threw in the towel and took the easy road. After all, knowing how to play the piano isn't going to make or break a person. Yet who's to say that maybe the Lord didn't have me in lessons so that He could grow that talent in order to use it some day?
I see that I've done this with a lot of things in life. I want to have talents, abilities, knowledge, special gifts, and what not but I don't want to have to work for them. I just want to want them and then they'll happen. I want everything to come easy to me, to be a natural at it. But I realize that if I really wanted to do something and be successful at it, I could. I'd just have to try. Try and be committed. Push myself and stretch myself. Not give up, and not take what seems to be the easy way out. Because when we do that, we miss out on a lot of what could have been. We miss out on a lot of potential joy and blessings. And when we give up on something because it seems too hard, we're crazy to think that we aren't actually creating even more work for ourselves in the event that we ever want to give it another shot someday.
Well, obviously, and unfortunately, we can't all be good at everything. Some people are really good at a lot of things, and some are good at only a few things. But what if we looked at the things in our lives as opportunities God has given us to glorify Him. Opportunities to learn and grow so that He can use us in different ways. Lessons for being His light. Maybe then we'd realize the importance of hard work and we'd do it. Maybe then we'd understand that just because things don't come naturally or easy doesn't mean we shouldn't do them, it just means we need the Lord's help even more to be successful in those areas. It may not lead to fame or fortune. It may be a gift that only a few people know you have. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that whatever we do, we do it to the glory of the Lord being sure to give Him all the thanks and gratitude for giving us the opportunity and the ability.
So don't give up. Keep pushing through it. Don't waste all of your hard work because if you do, you'll never know what you missed out on. You'll never know what could have come from it. In my opinion, it's just better to hang in there, stick with it, and never have to wonder or ask what if. And if you do it, whatever it is you're trying to get through, and you honor the Lord whether it's really good or not so good, He'll be sure to bless your faithfulness and use it in some really incredible ways that bring glory to His name as He shines through that very talent, gift, opportunity, or ability He has graciously given to you.
#608 - For the opportunities He gives us to learn, grow, be stretched, and be used.
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16