I often think of God as a Conductor of a great symphony, now turning this way, then that, utilizing the sounds of various instruments to create astonishing and breathtaking harmonies, always visibly keeping the tempo with His body and encouraging with facial gestures to make sure things go according to the plan prepared beforehand. His energy radiates and inspires. . . . . . .

   I’ve recently been reminded of just how precisely the Lord can and does guide us through the symphony that is our earthly lives. I was worshipping through painting the other night, doing a piece about JOY which is the counterpart to an earlier piece about OBEDIENCE. I wasn’t sure on the best translation of the idea and which characters to use, so I went to the Book. Finally, after some research, I decided on “喜乐”　(pronounced seeLUH).
I was listening to one of our training videos while painting, and the preacher was speaking about Philippians. These videos are in English with translation, and as I neared the end of the painting, the speaker got to the part about Rejoicing, which the translator also translated as “seeLUH.” Over and over they kept repeating the words, the concept, that Father has been teaching me lately and had lead me to paint so I would see it on my wall every day! This in turn filled me anew with the pure J0y that is found in, and only in, Him.
   A few days later, last Friday night, we had six Asian friends over to cook dinner together and just hang out afterwards. Three of them are already believers, and it proved to be a really sweet night that included a delicious feast where sandwiches and Asian dishes were served side-by-side, worshp with guitar and drum, one-armed push-ups (attempted;), and great conversation almost exclusively in the local language. Maybe best of all, our friends asked to see our rooms, and this of course lead to them seeing our art and scripture which expresses a love relationship with our Creat0r.
   Halleluiah that our God is like no other, that He came and paved the way that we might know Him intimately. Intimate means the small things. Especially the small things – the day to day, even minute to minute details.
One thing about the Conductor analogy…………you, the musician, have to be paying super-close attention to every move the Conductor makes (as well as knowing the written music ahead of time). Then will the music be played just as intended, even if (or should I say WHEN) He decides to throw in a few surprise notes!
May we all be fine-tuned to our Lord’s will and plan for us,
Clive