Sometimes near the end of a church service, the lights are dimmed for prayer time, but the pianist is still expected to play. In the dark. Well, maybe not pitch black, but still, a little light would help! Those clip-on lights are really a great invention for musicians. During the big musical productions I’ve been a part of in large churches at Christmas or Easter, we make sure all the orchestra members have those little lights, since they turn the house lights off often during dramatic moments.
So the little lights help, but they’re not always that bright, and don’t always cover all the edges of the sheet music. But the musicians are still expected to play just as if it were bright daylight. Confidence is confidence even in the dark. It’s all well and good to be confident during rehearsal, or when no one is watching. Sometimes I mess around at home with trying to play a piece with my eyes closed. It helps with memorizing and feeling the position of my fingers instead of watching them. But it’s a very different matter to try that in public. (I don’t, generally.) In order to be confident when it really counts, or in the dark, you have to have a solid background of having practiced the music over and over again.
So, in life, we need that solid background of listening to God and obeying His commands time and time again. Sometimes you can’t hear or see God’s direction, but you just need to go ahead and start anyway, and trust that it is right. You’ve practiced, you’ve rehearsed, you know what you should be doing – so just do it! Be courageous!
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4