This Little Light of Mine
It's amazing to see how people utilize the gifts they've been given. Wow! People are gifted in so many different ways! Music has always driven me to different levels of emotion, sometimes it gives me strength, sometimes rest and calm. My massage therapist is serious about the music she selects; I never hear the same music when I'm there and I appreciate that so much. It's nice to just enjoy the calming effects of the music she selects without anticipating a song or beat, so it really lends to a calming hour of peace and relaxation. My son is very music driven. During his high school football years, he would jam out on game day to get pumped up. I'd come home to things on the floor that had been knocked off shelves and walls from the octave that he had the stereo turned up to. When he was choosing a college the band was a factor; they had to have a good band to keep him pumped up during the game.
It blows my mind to think that after hundreds of years, people can still make new music. Worship and praise take on a new life with different song leaders and their choice of music to lead the congregation. The churches I grew up in used old Hymns just as the one I attend now does. Singing those hymns remind me of the wonder I had as a child as I witnessed my grandparents worship with them. The words didn't always make sense to me; "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"...why in the world would a chariot be flying through the sky and why would you want it to sweep down...of course, now it's one of my favorites as I've grown to understand the meaning! "Tell all my friends I'm coming too! Coming for to carry me home!"
I love music. I love the creativity and passion that goes into the words and the instruments. I'm grateful for those who take their gifts seriously and use them. Especially when they use them for the glory of the Creator. The One who blessed them with their ability in the first place. I appreciate art in all forms, and especially the off-beat-out-of-the-box, the untaught and the learned. I love the "un-perfect perfection" of abstract art and handmade items. If I can find a "flaw", that's the one I want. That's the one that is perfect to me.
As the world grows and changes, I'm thankful for new worship and praise music. I feel that it reaches people in new ways and gets the same message across as the hymns I grew up with. Mostly, I love that it gives people an outlet for the gifts they've been given.
What creative talent have you been given that you can use for His glory? Do you enjoy doing something but aren't confident that it's "good enough" to share? I'd love to encourage you to throw it out there! Pray first, and just go for it. Even if your mom is the only one that appreciates it, if it makes you happy and you do it for the right reason, keep on! Imagine that you're giving it to Jesus and He is overjoyed at each presentation. Whether it's drawing, painting, photography, making things from random findings, helping others, baking, writing, sewing, visiting, praying. Do it for God! Do it for YOU.
Matthew 5: 16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
That says it all right there-Do your thing and if God is the only one that is happy with it, you've done well.
Reading 1 Timothy 4: 12-16
I see that as we stay in the Word and follow God's will for us, we grow in our gifts and in our desire to share them with others in order to give Him glory AND show our heart for Him to others so that they can learn to have relationship with Him or grow in the relationship they have with Him. Be joyful in any praise you have, however you are gifted to show it. You'll be blessed in abundance.
Let your light shine, it can't help but get through the cracks and into someone's heart.
