The Singer

THE SINGER

A man strides onto stage. He is nervous. His hand shakes slightly as he grabs the mic and waits. For him the 6 seconds he waits for the music track to starts seems like an eternity. The music starts, his eyes close…possibly for a quick prayer…and he opens his mouth and sings.

He sings. He isn’t quite on key. He falls behind the beat a few times. He forgets the words on two occasions. And a few people nervously squirm in their seats.

Undaunted the singer continues, not even noticing the few stares between a few of the church people.

By the chorus, the once shaky voice seems to be gaining confidence. The eyes haven’t opened yet, but the once stiff neck and shoulders seemed to have loosened.

As the song builds to its crescendo his body starts to move and rock back and forth. The once shaky hands seem steady as he holds the mic to his mouth, his voice building as the music swells. The few smirks on the faces of the congregation have all but disappeared because the lack of voice and slightly off-key singing that were evident at the start are no longer noticeable…all people see is sincerity of heart, passion, and a true love of Jesus. It doesn’t need to be said but everyone sees that this is a man singing because He loves Jesus and that’s all that matters.

The final note is played…the singer holds the note, not quite long enough to be an exact replica of the professional who originally sang the song, but long enough. The hands drop to the side and once again a few seconds pass and to him it seems like an eternity…the silence is then abruptly and thunderously interrupted with applause. The applause seem to roll and grow louder as the seconds pass.

The people clap, and then one by one, start to stand. A standing ovation, never in his wildest dreams would the singer have thought this possible…and to be honest neither would the church have thought this possible either.

And yet here he stands, the slightly off-key, off beat singer who had hands that shake and could hardly open his eyes, receiving a standing ovation. He didn’t wait until he was the “perfect” singer. He didn’t wait until he conquered his nerves. He didn’t wait until someone invited him to sing. He had a song in his heart and he sang.

Many of us have a song in our hearts…and we refuse to sing. Oh we say we want to sing, but don’t. We come up with so many excuses. Not enough time, not good enough, not talented enough, not special enough…the only real response to that is BULL. God made you…and you are enough…because He made you that way.

The sad thing is that sometimes it is our brothers and sisters who also discourage us. You don’t look the part, aren’t hip enough…don’t fit the so-called Christian mold (which is really silly considering that the religious leaders back in the day said the same exact thing about a guy named Jesus). You don’t have the training needed. You need more seasoning.

Again…BULL. If God has put something in your heart…go after it with everything you have. God loves taking ordinary people and doing extra-ordinary things with them. He took a dude who had trouble speaking and had a confidence problem and used him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He took a dude who had an adulterous affair and then covered it up by murdering the woman’s husband and made him a “man after God’s own heart”. He took an overzealous, arrogant suck-up and made him an early leader in the church.

And he can and will take the person who wants to sing and help them sing beautiful melodies that move people. He can take the person wanting to write books that change people lives and make him a bestseller. He can take the person with no experience and make them a leader of many men. He can take the shy girl wanting to dance and make her move like a ballerina.

He can do this and more…what is your dream? What is the song God has put in your heart? Whatever it is…go after it with everything you have, sing from the heart, and sit back and be amazed at what God has in store for you.