ok, so God has been saying that we must be careful with our time because I work and 5 days go by without having much time do concentrate on my calling and developing myself, and then I get to the weekend and I have 2 days to find myself and explore this calling. So this weekend I started Saturday morning praying and asking God what to do and the only thing I felt is that I need to develop a lifestyle of worship, in that on very regular occasions I get down to worship my Father in heaven.
Well this was great but then I preceded to play guitar my myself and landed up getting all intense about it because I'm trying to jam 7 days of life into 2. Well this didn't go down well and the results weren’t good.
After hashing this all with Denise, we concluded that I gotta stay cool, keep God in my sights at all times and don't try to be the next Steve Via or Eric Clapton of guitaring and keep my focus on seeking what God is saying for me and the rest will work out. The real struggle I have with this is I don't want to be just some ordinary boring guitarist, will God give me talent that I never worked for? I also don't have 8 hours a day to practice anything anyway. I'm trusting for that in songwriting (lyrics and melody), singing and playing. It still seems crazy and it's a work to believe this. Somedays it's easier. If anyone's got any thoughts on this, please let me know, I feel like this is way out because common sense tells me to practice, and there is the story of the talents to read, so why does it seem different for me.
oh yes, I'm supposed to practice worshipping .... the rest must come after that.
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2 comments:
Hey Steve,
I already have your site bookmarked. I have some advice for you as both a fellow musician and a fellow Christian. Something God has taught me is that worshipping and life don't have to be two different things. I go to work every Monday morning because God gave me the job and going to work is how I worship Him. I carry out absolutely every task he gives me to the best of my ability. Every phone call I take during the day (I work in a call center) is another chance to serve God by doing the best I can with that call. Even eating breakfast and cleaning my room have become acts of worship. Worshipping is not an action you do. It is a lifestyle you choose. I have a book you may want to read. It will help with your music. It is called Effortless Mastery and it is by Kenny Werner. He is a musician who hit that wall of always wanting to be better and seeing everyone else as a better musician than himself. Here is the link on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Mastery-Liberating-Master-Musician/dp/156224003X
I read it and did all of the meditation exercises (they are really cheesy, but they work). Relax and know that God has a little party EVERY time you say you just want to follow Him. He is pleased that you want to follow Him and excited to walk with you. Remember that worshipping is not an act you do, it is a daily journey with God by your side. I am praying for you Steve. Keep checking back to my site. It's exam time right now so my posts are rare, but I am still posting.
Hi, Steve,
Thanks for the link.
I definitely feel some of the same angst that you feel about finding the a way to reconcile the ebb and flow of daily life with the call to be a worship artist. Like you, I definitely struggle with this. I spend much of my time involved in activities that seem to be neither art nor worship.
Leah is right, though, about worship as lifestyle, and I try to cultivate that daily through regular Bible study. If worship can become the prism through which I see all that I do, then I won't get hung up on the details.
Often we think about trying to "balance" the various demands on our time and I don't think that is the answer. I think that is a fallacy. I don't believe that kind of balance is even possible or desireable. I think it is about worship first, and then everything else follows after that, subject to worship.
All of that said, it still always makes me a little crazy when I realize the weekend has rolled around again and I haven't touched my guitar since the weekend before. One of the things I look forward to most in Heaven is the unshackled freedom to really explore the gifts that He has given me.
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