I have accompanied church youth and children’s choirs many times in many churches. These choirs may practice every week, but usually only sing in the main service on special occasions, a few times a year. Instead of sitting in the regular adult choir loft, they usually stand near the front of the stage, on the steps leading up to the altar area, or on risers put in place for the occasion. The littlest ones are so adorable, dressed in their finest, waving to their parents, wiggling and hopping from foot to foot. My son once fell off the steps, he was wiggling so much.
Many of the teens are usually a bit nervous too, and shuffle back and forth on stage. They are taller too, and that presents a problem. When there’s a lot of them, they block my view, standing directly between the piano and the director. I’ll be sitting there in the dress rehearsal, waiting for the director to signal me to play the introduction, and the director will be standing on the other side of the wall of tall teens, waiting for me to start. And nothing happens.
Then we tell the singers to part in the middle, a few stepping to the left and a few to the right, making a hole where I can see the director’s hands. We rehearse, everything goes fine, and we then wait for the service to start. We sing a few hymns, have a prayer or two, and then the youth choir walks on stage at the proper time. And totally forgets to make a hole for me to see. So I’m sitting there, blind to whatever is happening on the other side of the youth, hoping they will remember, time is passing, and…nothing.
So I just start playing. We’ve rehearsed enough that I am confident of the tempo the director wants, the youth seem to all be in place, so I just have to trust that the director is ready, and I go for it. It has always worked out to date. (Plus, I know no one can see me anyway, since I’m behind all the youth!)
How is this relevant to life in general? Practice makes confidence. Maybe it doesn’t make perfect all the time, but it sure helps with confidence. This goes back to discipline, which is a form of practice. The more you walk with God, and the more times you have trusted Him, the more confidence you will have in future situations. There’s a song (multiple songs, actually) that says, “He’s never failed me yet!” Moses gained confidence as God helped him multiple times. We can also gain confidence as we see God helping us in all situations. As I said when I used this verse back in the Foundations chapter, bad things happen. The world is full of sin. But God can turn anything to good for those who love Him and follow Him. Seeing that in action should give us confidence to take that first step!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28