I love music. Music has a way of seeping through the cracks of our being to build a cozy home in a corner of our hearts. Music marinates our souls and gives us the one thing we require every once in awhile – an escape from our daily lives. Time becomes fluid and location becomes inconsequential as we slip into music that serenades and pleases our hearts.
I listen to all genres of music but, of course, I also have my preferences. Sometimes things I write become songs and I also try to give my own spin to songs others have written – sometime my renditions sound good and, well . . . sometimes they don’t. That’s when the saying ‘live and learn’ comes into effect.
Recently, I have grown to love another genre of music: background score. It’s subtle, simple, and is a good indicator of where the story is heading. If we listen intently, the score can be a dead-giveaway of what to expect next.
In our church – New City Mumbai – we follow a love discipline called Community Bible Reading (CBR). Essentially, the entire community reads the same passages from the Bible on a daily basis and does it within a pre-set framework. It helps us see things uniquely and yet, uniformly. Last morning, I started journaling by writing, “Speak to me God, I need to hear You.” Soon after that, I landed at Zechariah chapter 2 verse 6 – (MSG version) “Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something’s afoot in his holy house. He’s on the move!” Soon my eyes turned moist as I could not wrap my head around this – I wanted to hear God and it seemed like He wanted me to quiet down.
As a follower of Christ, I do believe that God is constantly working in and around me; I believe He is not ignoring my cries and has not forgotten me, not even for a minute. I believe that God would be unjust if He would turn His face away from me, because Christ paid a heavy price to reserve me for eternity – there is no chance I’m just a blip.
I have come to believe that God likes music too, and maybe background score as well. In a movie, when the background score goes silent, it usually indicates an impending surprise. Or sometimes it slowly leads us to a new song. Sometimes soft whispers of quiet music create an atmosphere for us to enjoy an intimate moment with our loved one.
I was convicted that morning as I read that God is on the move but needed silence to proceed. My God is faithful, even though I am unaware. My God is on the move even though, to me, it sounds like the music has stopped, and I end up getting anxious. The truth is, God is embedding my story in His; I search for an indication, but the background score is indication enough.
For some of us, this Christmas season may not be exactly the way we wanted it to be. Maybe it’s another Christmas as a 'singleton', or a first Christmas without a loved one, a Christmas that brings back memories of an old tragedy. But, in the stillness of our life’s background score, maybe an indication of a surprise or an invitation to intimacy with God awaits us.
May I suggest we re-think? Not weigh our options, not re-consider our decisions, just re-think . . . God is on the move. The background score is still playing.
Merry Christmas, dear one.
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