It’s just a reminder for me that following God is more than only pain, suffering, and trial. Following God also comes with a bunch of unexpected bonuses, nice little “presents” from the LORD.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
I’ve written a few times before about playing guitar in a Christian band. And I’m happy to say that, only a few days ago (as of this writing) I performed live with them for the first time. Actually, it was public church service that we were doing. After we played our songs, the pastor preached a message for the neighborhood over our loudspeakers. So basically what we did was we brought church to the people on Sunday morning.
It’s too bad no one from the neighborhood left their house to join our service. But we know they heard us 😀
Anyway, I was really happy for the opportunity to play my guitar in a public performance. And it reminded me again of how we do get some nice, cool bonuses for following God. Because God is the One who opened up the door for me to play in the band.
When we follow God, the path is tough and has many trials. There’s a lot of pain. But that’s not the whole story. We also get good things for following God too, such as cool opportunities like the one I’m enjoying now with this band. And that’s what I want to write about today—the bonuses we get following the tough, narrow path.
A Blessing I Didn’t Ask for
A few days ago (as of this writing) I performed with the Christian band for the first time. And it was my first time ever playing guitar for an audience. Miraculously, I did a perfect job on a part that I had screwed up on a lot in practice. Well that had to be Holy Spirit Power, empowering me to get it right when it mattered, during the live performance. I did a good job that day, and so did the band.
But not a perfect job, of course. I made some mistakes, and the band made some mistakes. So we had individual and group mistakes. One of my mistakes was I kept causing feedback through the PA system. Well, that kind of thing is an opportunity to learn for next time. The more we play together as a band the better we’ll play together. But we did good for our first performance together.
Then the pastor preached over the loudspeakers so the community could hear. He preached a message that we are in the End Times right now, and people need to turn to Jesus today. It was too bad all the locals stayed in their homes and didn’t come out to listen. But I know they heard us through the loudspeakers.
When I played guitar many years ago in high school/college, playing live was something I always wanted to do. Y’know, being a rock star. I think it’s an idle daydream of every young person who plays the guitar. But I never got into a band back then, and I never performed live, not even once. That idle daydream (it was never a serious dream) didn’t go anywhere.
It was unexpected and I wasn’t asking for it, but many years later God has fulfilled that dream, only with the Christian band. I didn’t see performing live in my future even two years ago, but now I see a future of many performances with this band. Each performance is a precious opportunity to honor God with the musical talents He gave me.
It’s just a reminder for me that following God is more than only pain, suffering, and trial. Following God also comes with a bunch of unexpected bonuses, nice little “presents” from the LORD.
Pain Is only Part of the Story
We all know following God involves a lot of difficulties and struggles, lots of pain, but that’s not the whole story. There are also a lot of good things that happen when we follow God.
God may, for example, unexpectedly fulfill one of our oldest wishes we’d long ago forgotten about. He has for me, now. Makes me wonder what other good things He has in store for me. And I’m sure He has good things planned for everyone reading this too. Don’t forget Jeremiah 29:11. The LORD has good things planned for us, if we stick with Him.
(11) I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 (CEB)
The path is hard, so lets thank God for any nice bonuses we get along the way. Let’s enjoy them, and make the most of them that we can. Most important, let’s enjoy them in Gratitude to God, and give Him all the Glory for them. We need to embrace every bonus we get.
That’s it for #shorts Part 41.
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