Trusting in the Promises
Posted on Feb 21, 2018 by Heather Lewis
I love the story in Genesis when Abraham and Sarah, in their nineties, are told that they will have a child – and they laugh! And yet, a year later they have Isaac – which, by the way, means laughter. How many stories do we have where God is trying to convince his people that they can trust in His promises? They struggled with God’s ways just as we do today. How difficult is it to trust in something we have no control over, that God will make our lives better, to believe that a miracle will happen?
I remember as a teenager being unhappy at a decision that was made at school by administrators that would upset our music program. I talked to my beloved music teacher (who was also my choir director at church) demanding justice. His response floored me: “It will work out.” What?! No, we can’t let it happen; we need to fix it now! And of course, it worked out – perhaps he already had a plan, or he trusted that the right thing would happen eventually. I think about that conversation when I am impatient with trusting the process.
It helps me to look back at situations that seemed impossible at the time, and then turned out better than I could have imagined. I planned an emotional song for a Good Friday service 14 years ago – Nichole Nordeman’s Why - and asked an acquaintance to dance as we sang. We practiced with her two days before, and without reason that night she told me she couldn’t perform. My baby Casey had been in the hospital for 3 months, and as I prayed and cried (music directors get a little overwhelmed during Holy Week!) a thought came to me that I should try something completely different. Instead of a dancer, I asked a young girl and her dad to act out what we were singing. We practiced it the next day, Maundy Thursday, and I can honestly say our performance on Good Friday was the most moving moment I’ve experienced in my 20+ years of directing church music.
I hope that this Lenten season finds you with many opportunities to see what God can do in your life – be open to His ways, and watch for the miracles!
Heather Lewis
Director of Worship and Music