DANCING TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER

​My friend Josh is an amazing drummer; when he’s worshipping on his drum set or even on his cajón, all of heaven seems to dance to his beat.  But recently God led him into a new gig and exchange his drums for a guitar.  That seems to makes no sense, because he doesn’t have a lot of experience with a guitar and he’s not very accomplished playing it.  It does allow him to lead vocals, but his voice isn’t very developed either, and he tends to sing a tad flat.
 
Well, maybe he didn’t hear God correctly, you might think.  But Josh has no doubt that God wants him to lead this particular gig with a guitar.  He knows a dozen or so talented musicians who could have done a great job leading worship - which would have enabled him to drum - but they all declined to get involved.  When the young woman who was probably the most qualified - a really passionate vocalist and guitarist - told him that she really wanted to do it but God flat-out told her to say no, Josh realized that God had truly taken charge.  And the way God wanted to be worshipped had a lot more to do with Josh’s obedience than his giftedness.
 
That should give recovering charismatics like me great pause, because we tend to see God in a person’s gifts, more than their shortcomings.  But it doesn’t seem to be phasing Josh.  Even though he feels pretty awkward in his new role, he knows it’s where God wants him to be, so he’s pumped!  Which maybe goes to show that his core gift isn’t percussion but Christ.  Jesus is the gift that trumps every other gift.1  Only Jesus makes Himself nothing to show the world He’s everything.2  And He longs to live that way in us!
 
“When you’re week, you’re strong,” God says,3 but how many of us really believe that?  And even if we know it’s true, will we let Jesus live in us that way?  Or do we squirm and plead with Him to “Get me out of here!?”
 
i did my share of squirming and pleading for the eight years God called me into youth outreach.  i was twice the age of most other leaders and three times the age of the kids, which made most of the things we did with kids feel super awkward to me.  You might think, “Well that sounds really cool that you would have a heart do that,” but not everyone felt that way.  Some of those who oversaw the ministry i was leading tried to get me fired, while others tried to replace me with others half my age.
 
Although i’m really gifted managing money, that same ministry constantly struggled to pay its bills.  When i got paid, it was usually minimum wage, which was around five bucks an hour.  But lots of the time there wasn’t enough money to pay me even that.  This was in a wealthy town that now routinely raises a healthy six figures to support the same ministry.  i’m not complaining; God took good care of me throughout that season and my family never suffered.  But all my trials might make a saner person wonder, “Did God really call you to do this?”  Except that i knew that He had, and i knew where that question came from.  It’s the same question the serpent asked Eve! 4
 
So if you find yourself battling wind and waves as your dreams hit the rocks, you might want to look toward the one still sleeping in your boat.  If there’s even a faint smile on his lips, take it as a compliment - and a very promising sign that you aren’t as far adrift as you might seem.  Jesus likes a good storm, and He loves it when we praise Him in the midst of it.  Especially if we’re singing a tad off key.
 
1 James 1:17
2 Philippians 2:5-11
3 2 Corinthians 12:10
4 Genesis 3:1