Life Encounters

Maybe it’s just how I’ve wired but I can find a life lesson or metaphor from the most bizarre or seemingly disconnected things.

Take this morning for example. I woke up this morning and my fingers were absolutely killing me. Yesterday morning we had our west staff meeting – which started with worship which I led on guitar and then I had band practice in the evening. So that, combined with a bit of playing either side of that, added up to 3 or 4 hours of playing acoustic guitar.

My shocking confession is that I have hardly touched a guitar in the last month or so – mainly been doing piano – and that just doesn’t leave your fingertips tough enough to do serious guitar duty. It takes regular playing and practice to develop the finger strength and toughness of skin to be able to play for hours without hurting.

So the life lesson that gave cause to ponder this morning is this: Sadly, for many of us, spiritual life can be like that as well.

Most often, we want instant results when we want them. We want to be able to hear God’s voice when we need it. We want to be able to live right and be empowered not to sin. We want to be able to be an effective witness to our friends, and share God’s love when the right opportunity presents itself. We want to be able to help people grow, share words of encouragement and operate in the spiritual gifts. And yet we do not practise.

We don’t practise spending time in God’s presence, we don’t practise worship or the word as anything more than a once or twice weekly thing. We don’t practise listening to God, or allowing our hearts and minds to be trained by him, and then we wonder why life hurts so much and living a Godly, passionate life seems impossible.

Now I’m certainly not saying it’s always sunny and rosy. But strength in being able to do it more and more effectively – and stop the hard things in life from hurting so much – comes from being consistent with the things which help us know God.

And before you think I’m telling you you’ve got to get up at 5 or 6am and have your ‘hour of power’:

People who’ve known me for any length of time know that I’m not a person of discipline and routine. In fact, routine bores me to tears. I’m a creative, artistic, thinker, learner type. I like to follow the spark and to do new things. I’m also an evening person not a morning person. Yet I’ve learnt that no matter how I do it or when I do it, I need to find a way to live a life which is connected to God, knows his voice, and grows in his word and the empowering of his Holy Spirit.

I remember a time when my devotional life was mostly based around what was required to do stuff – whether that was lead worship, teach, get an answer from God for a specific question, or pray for something specific I needed. I found that living life that way was often hard and painful.

It’s amazing how that changes when you practise.

btw, for any American speakers out there. Practise = verb, practice = noun