I Hope You Sing

So there I am standing in front of 2,000 people ready to sing my solo at church. It started without a hitch, 1st verse…2nd verse and chorus…all was well until after the 2nd chorus and into the key change. This is when the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir surrounding me would have been just fabulous. But, there was no choir, there was not even a blue-haired Grandma willing to toe the line with me. Nope, not a one.

Oh, those blasted key changes! Key changes always unnerved me, I was just a little unsure about jumping that note up all by myself onto that next ledge of melody. So, I gave it my all and guess what? I slipped right off the ledge of melody into the miry pit of sour notes so bad that they only dreamed of the day they could be harmony. It was not pretty. At that moment, I knew I had a choice…either run sobbing from the platform crying the ugly cry or keep singing. I chose the latter.

In those milliseconds of time that seemed an eternity, I heard in my heart “don’t stop, these words are too important and need to be sung.” So sing I did. I found the right notes and kept on going. I chose not to let fear and humiliation determine the outcome of this moment. I knew the verse “God did not give me a spirit of intimidation” so I knew that God would want me to press on.

After the service one of the pastors told me that a gentleman had come for prayer and gave his heart to Jesus. He said that the words of that song had impacted him and his decision to choose life that day. I can’t begin to tell you how my heart jumped a beat!

That’s what happens when we lay down our pride and let God use us in whatever way He sees fit. I don’t say this to sound like- oh I have it all together ~blah, blah, blah, but I want to encourage you to put away the fears of what other people will think, and do what God calls you to do, no matter how foolish it could make you look. After this incident, I felt that I truly understood what it meant to be a fool for Christ!

1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you
were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.
27 Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in
order to shame those who think they are wise. And, He chose those who are
powerless to shame those who are powerful.
28 God chose things despised by
the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing
what the world considers important,
29 so that no one can ever boast in the
presence of God.
NLT

There is was no boasting in my performance, but I am willing to sing off key any day if someone can find the Lord in spite of it. I hope that I inspired you to push past your fears and let Him shine through you any way that He chooses!

I hope you sing.