Once, when I was playing cello in the church orchestra instead of piano, the pastor started talking about cellos in his sermon. He was talking about some dramatic story he was relating, and said that this would be a good time for one of those nice cello crescendos, where the music just gets louder and louder and louder.
Well, the orchestra was still sitting on stage during the sermon, and I had my cello in hand, just waiting. I was so tempted to help him out, and demonstrate with a nice cello crescendo, maybe some fancy scale getting louder and louder as it rose to a climax – but I was not nearly confident enough in my cello-playing abilities to do such a thing. I had not been playing for very long, and had not even had any lessons (other than watching videos on YouTube), so I knew it would be a disaster. I just smiled and kept my hands still.
You can’t be timid when you play a string instrument. Without a proper attack with the bow, without enough force behind the first touch, it squeaks. It shrills. It sounds absolutely terrible. And I was still very timid when it came to playing my cello.
We all start out that way in life. But we don’t have to stay that way. We can practice, and the verse below tells us what to practice. As I’ve learned in music, you need to practice the right notes, and not keep practicing the wrong way. Practice gives you confidence. Practice gives you peace about your actions. Practice gives you courage. Sometimes God only shows us the very next step we need to take. Everything else is in the dark. With courage, you can take that next step. And then the next. And all the steps after that.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9