Little black dots and lines on a page

 

“We once saw a man draw some black dots. We looked and could make nothing of them but an irregular assemblage of black dots. Then he drew a few lines, put in a few rests, then a clef at the beginning, and we saw these black dots were musical notes. On sounding them, we were singing,
               “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
               Praise Him all creatures here below.” 
There are many black dots and black spots in our lives, and we cannot understand why they are there or why God permitted them to come. But if we let God come into our lives, and adjust the dots in the proper way, and draw the lines He wants, and separate this from that, and put in the rests at the proper places; out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work!” C. H. P.

Music is a big part of my life. I can’t even imagine a world without music. I love to play it. I love to sing it, and I love to listen to it.

Music holds so much power. It has the power to take you to different places. It has the power to calm your fears, comfort you, bring you peace, bring rest. But it also has the power to hurt and stir up feelings of anger. Music has the power to harm or heal.

If you don’t believe me, read the story of King Saul and the evil spirit that plagued him. (1 Samuel 16). We read how that David played a harp and upon hearing the lovely melodies, Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed from him.

And then we read in Exodus 32 about some music coming from the camp of the Israelites as they danced and sang around a golden calf that they had decided was to be their god to worship. This music was not healing music. It was harmful.

Music is NOT neutral. All music wields power.

This past week has seen me practicing for a wedding I am to play for today and it has brought to my attention once again the awesome power that music has in our lives. As I composed a wedding song combining two different melodies causing them to flow in and out seamlessly, I thought about the ways that God writes the unique music to our lives.

Music is one of my favourite ways to worship God. Note, there is a whole lot more to worship than just playing or singing songs about God. But I’m so glad God gave us music and the ability to worship him through its use. We see music first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 4:21 with Jubal and his skilful use of the harp and the organ.

When I am playing or singing praises to God, I am drawn into a different place. A place of peace. A place of comfort. A place of rest. As I worship God through song, I am seeking to give him the glory and exalt his name as I raise my voice to him.

So, what about these black dots on the page? Do you sometimes question God as to why he puts all the black dots in our lives? We look at our circumstances, and we can’t make head nor tail of them. Nothing God is doing seems to make sense. But maybe it’s because all we’re seeing is little black dots. We’re not seeing the big picture.

God doesn’t always allow us to see the birds eye view. But when he takes his pen, and begins to join the dots, draw in the lines, place the rests in their proper place, add the treble and bass clefs, maybe a few little triplets and pauses too, something beautiful happens. Harmonies are written, and we begin to hear the music.

“Out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work!”

Often, I will write my own melodies. And when I say write, I mean make up songs and sometimes note down chord progressions or notes but not really write out the full tablature. But if I was to begin to fill a page with little black dots and add in some stems, some bar lines, a key signature etc and you took my piece of music and began to pick it out on the keyboard, the melody would start to come out and hopefully flow along to make a pleasant sound.

God’s melodies are so much more beautiful than anything we could ever write.

I’m not talking about music, as in a song, here, I am referring to the music of our lives. The song God writes. The music of our lives. The melody he creates as he weaves the patterns intricately, uniquely and specifically for each one of us.

We pick up the pages and all we see are little black dots. We see symbols we don’t understand. We see long pauses in places we wish they weren’t. We see loud crescendos building and then suddenly there are moments of softness and stillness so quiet we wonder if the music has stopped. We hear haunting minor keys and discordant clashes of notes played together.

If we were to write the music for our lives, we would forever write in major keys. We would leave out the minor sounds, take out some of the rests and the long pauses, maybe slow down the pace a little at times and allow the melody to flow along at a gentle, even pace.

But God knows that we need the minor keys as well as the major ones. The times our lives are playing in a minor key are often times of growth. Many a tremendous difficulty has been turned into a great victory and God’s name has been magnificently glorified. Those times in the darkness, as we sing our sad laments, we are drawn closer to him as we cry out to him and he reveals himself to us and shows us, by his power, what only he can do.

The long pauses, the discordant notes are all part of God’s plan in our lives. He knows what we need to go through in order to purify us and make us more like him.

God has to touch all the keys to make the music of our lives. He has to write in all the fortes and the pianissimos, the pauses and the fast-paced runs. He wants to make a glorious melody of praise, and the ups and downs of our lives contribute to the song that he writes.

So why is it that we think we are master composers, and we try to steal the pen? Why do we think that we have enough wisdom to write our own song? Why do we think we have the skill to accomplish such a feat?

Allow God to write the music of your life. 

Don’t stay his hand when he adds in a minor part. Don’t rush forward when he places a rest in a particular place. Sit still and wait when the pauses come. When you hear a discordant chord, look around for the lesson he is trying to teach you. When the pace picks up, look who’s racing alongside you. He is still with you, bringing the harmonies your song needs.

Let God join the little black dots and form them into something beautiful. Let him write your song. And sing your song of praise to him. Joyfully. Exuberantly. Continually. Loudly. Cheerfully.

 

Psalm 100:1-2 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

 

“When the musician presses the black keys on the great organ, the music is as sweet as when he touches the white ones, but to get the capacity of the instrument he must touch them all”