Instruments of Worship

The Fear of God, Not of Conductor or Teacher | Ep. 9

• Casey Rinkenberger • Episode 9

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Have you ever been scared walking into an orchestra rehearsal or lesson?  Sometimes we come across very intense people in authority over us in the music world.  How is it then that we answer the Romans 12:18 call, "...as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone?"  In today's episode we will be equipped with both practical and Biblical truth that can build us up to navigate these situations and relationships with a heart of worship. 


Discussion Questions -- Try reflecting on your own or with a group:)

  • Why am I fearful of this person? Is it because I’m afraid of failure and embarrassment? 
  • How in this situation will seeing God as bigger and greater make this situation feel less scary?
  • Is it possible there are ways my playing could benefit from their instruction? 
  • Am I coming to lessons and rehearsals as prepared as I can?
  • Are there ways I need to adjust my schedule to or make better use of my time to be more prepared for lessons or rehearsals? 
  • Is it possible that I am the person people fear or dread seeing? What does Jesus teach me about being an authority figure, but never sinning in it? 
  • How can I honor or love this person even if I disagree with their life choices?
  • What am I going to do when people around me start to grumble and complain about them?  Will I participate?  
  • What scripture am I going to memorize and meditate on to inform my heart with Truth through it all? 


To help engage our hearts in greater worship to Him, check out these songs that relate to this episode!



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SPEAKER_00:

Hi friends, my name is Casey Rinkenberger and I am so excited to welcome you to the Instruments of Worship podcast. This is a podcast dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to lift high the name of Jesus with their instruments but also their lives. Today we are going to tackle another situation likely many musicians have experienced at one point or another in their career and that is what do you do when you are intimidated by a conductor or teacher? Have you ever been fearful walking into a lesson or an orchestra rehearsal because of a particular person if so you're likely not alone there can be some very intense and prideful people in authority over us in the music world as christians we want to be prepared with both practical and biblical truth that can build us up to navigate these situations and relationships as well as possible Also, as we continue, maybe it's a time to consider for yourself. Are you someone who people fear or dread to see? Is the way you treat people representative of the gospel in your teaching, conducting, being a stand partner, or just the way you live your life? Could the other musicians in your life tell that you're a Christian by the way you act and treat people? Getting together and trying to put great music together can be an intense and emotional process at times, and sometimes it doesn't bring the best out of But we can be careful not to get too carried away with it because God is greater and we have a higher calling in our life than to just make perfect music. We have an immense opportunity to minister to those around us by the way we choose to live and it would be a shame to waste it. So with that said, welcome to episode nine of the Instruments of Worship podcast. So first, I thought it would be helpful to just start off by remembering God's sovereignty. If you don't have a quick and easy definition for God's sovereignty, I would tell you that it means God is in control. That's what my youth pastor told me growing up. So that's what I stick with every time I think of the Lord's sovereignty. Nothing can stop him from accomplishing his very perfect purposes. We know that God loves us from Psalm 36, 5 through 7, and he has amazing plans for us from Jeremiah 29, 11. So even when we don't know how or we don't see completely, don't understand the troubles we face in this world and why, Romans 8, 28 says, and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I love that it says in all things. It doesn't just say in the easy times or the fun situations or the beautiful relationships that we have. It says in all things at all times that God is working every for the good of those who love him and who have been called by him according to his purposes. in the hard, in the trials that wash on our shore that we wish wouldn't, God is using those for our good. And we can hold on to that as a promise. God is in control and writing a beautiful story through our life. And if you need proof of this, I would encourage you to go to Genesis 37 through 48. And that tells the story of Joseph. And if you don't know, Joseph experienced hardship after hardship. People were unfair to him. His life was, in our terms, miserable. Bad things just kept happening. But at the end of his life, you can see God working everything that happened in his life for good, for Joseph's good, for the good of the nation of Israel, and for God's greater glory. So check out the story of Joseph if you need some proof of Romans 8, 28 being worked out in real time. But to tie it back to our topic today, it's just a reminder that this conductor, this teacher, this person in authority over you who has maybe embarrassed you, has maybe hurt you, made you cry, intimidated you, or maybe even just made you feel like crap, it's not without meaning. It's not without purpose. It's not outside of God's control. And we may not understand right now, but he is even working those things out for our good and for his greater glory. So the first piece of scripture that I thought we'd look at today comes from second Corinthians 12. And this is when Paul describes what he has as a thorn in his side. So I think you'll find this scripture very applicable to what you may be experiencing, because I know that whenever I've been fearful walking into a rehearsal or a lesson, the first thing that I want to do is just find a way out of that situation. God, this hurts. This is not feel good. This is not fun. Just take me out of this, please. For example, when I first moved to college, it was really lonely and difficult. Maybe some of you have experienced that. And I would even pray with tears in my eyes, take this cup from me, Lord, or ask, can I just move home, please? Like, is there something that I can do to not experience this pain? Can you please just remove me from this situation? But the Lord brought me to this scripture that I want to share with you today. And it starts in 2 Corinthians 12, 7 through verse 10. And it says, because of these surpassing great revelation Galatians chapter 1, verse 1. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties for when I am weak, then I am strong. So to give you a little backstory, Paul had been experiencing success in his ministry. He was having revelations and so on. So the Lord allowed for there to be this thorn in his flesh. Now, pretty much all scholars agree that Paul is speaking metaphorically here. It wasn't an actual thorn, but it was something that was frustrating and causing him pain. So everybody agrees that it was metaphorical, but people speculate, was this a physical, a spiritual, or emotional pain that he was experiencing? Some think it might have been a real person, a person causing division in the church that was a frustration. Some think it could have been a physical illness, like a speech impediment or a condition in his eyes that was causing him to lose his eyesight. Some think it could have just been a spiritual temptation that wouldn't leave him alone. It's impossible to know for sure what this thorn was, but we don't want to focus on what's unclear. Instead, focusing on what is clear, Paul was just experiencing a trial that he certainly wished he didn't have to. He wished it wasn't there. And I think we can all relate to that at times. So he asked the Lord three times if he would just Take it away. Take the thorn away. And I think that this shows to us that we have the freedom to ask anything of the Lord. We don't just have to clean ourselves up when we go to him. We can be honest. He wants us to bring our burdens to him. And since we know he is powerful enough to do anything, we can ask big requests of him, just like Paul did here. But it's when God responds that we must submit and concede our will to his. God lovingly says to Paul, I'm sorry, I'm not going to take it away. I will be what you need to get through it instead, though. And that, as hard as it may be to understand, sometimes is much, much greater. In verse nine, he says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. So long story, not short, there may be a pain in your side, a hardship that washed on your shore, like a difficult relationship or a teacher, a conductor, you really just prefer not to work with. You can ask of the Lord to remove you from that situation and he very may will, but the reality is that he may not either. And we can trust that that person is in your life for a reason. If nothing else, it's for God's greater glory and also for your good. He may not remove that person from your life and he may not remove you from that difficulty. But one thing we can stand on and we can know with absolute certainty we can hold to as a promise from God is that he will be faithful to get you through it. He will be sufficient for you as you weather it because that's what he promised to Paul and his power will shine through your weakness. These are all good things that we can know for certain in these difficulties. Paul finishes, therefore, most gladly, I will boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I'm well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. We see here that he's not just trying to survive anymore. He's content. He's glad for the trials that make him weak. That's when God's power can really shine and it can make us even stronger. So you may be thinking, Why does it even matter? Why do we even need to think about this? Can I just be annoyed at this person and move on? And as we've talked about in this podcast, that our life is made for worship. And Romans 12, one says, therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. We know that we were made to worship and that's what's really satisfying. And even in these situations, we can practically apply God's word and and find ways to worship through these difficulties. We've talked about before, we don't just live life for ourselves. We live it as unto God, as an offering, as a sacrifice. We won't be on this earth forever. We'll be with him in heaven for eternity. But while we're on this earth, we get to be obedient to him. We get to live lives as an offering to him because we love him. This is a way that we can worship him. It's about caring about these difficult relationships, caring about how we can handle these well for God's greater glory. So our goal in all of this, in our difficult relationships that we're going to talk about how we navigate, our goal is to worship the Lord. He is glorified in our efforts to apply his word and honor him in our relationships with this people. Even more, the rest of Romans 12 goes on to show how we can do that, how we can worship in our lives by just living in a pleasing way to God. It talks about humble service in the body of Christ and it talks about the importance of loving others through our actions so in verse 18 it says if it is possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone this may be a verse that you've heard before but a way we can worship the Lord through our actions is by living at peace with hard people that's worship you don't have to be best friends with them but you not being at odds with them, not warring against them, but letting peace be between you and that person, both externally and visibly or internally at peace with them. And I want to encourage you that your worship is not dependent on their good attitude. God doesn't say, once they have a good attitude and act how you would like them to, and they're easy to love, that's when you can live at peace with them. Our worship in that way, our living at peace with people is not based on their good attitude, but it's just based on our heart. notice that part that says, as far as it depends on you, you can't control the actions of others. And if you try, you will constantly come up frustrated, but you can control you, your actions, your thoughts, and your words. So let's talk over practical things that you can do to be at peace with either your conductor, your teacher, or person in authority who is currently difficult to love. First of all, Maybe just try taking some deep breaths before you walk into the lesson or the rehearsal, right? This is super practical, but sometimes our emotions can just rise up. It can make our breathing go fast, make us stressed out. And so maybe just take some calming deep breaths. God gave us breath. We can use that to our advantage. He also, we've talked about, he gave us music. Maybe there's music that you want to listen to before you head into being with that person. Worship music that might inform your heart with right thinking, remind you of how big God is and make all your other situations in life seem a lot smaller. Or maybe there's some hype up music, you know, that's really just going to set you in a good mood and set you up for success. But bringing it down to a little bit more practical level, I would say a way that you can live at peace with this difficult person would be to be as prepared as possible for your lesson, for your rehearsal, whatever that means. And that will take time and hard work. So work hard. A conductor or a teacher legitimately may feel disrespected if a student shows up to a rehearsal or a lesson not being as prepared as they expect. And this may be where things get a little dicey is because they may feel that in response they have the freedom to disrespect you back. And whether it's right or not, a way we as believers can set ourselves apart from the world is by working hard and being diligent. We can never be perfect, obviously, but we can do our best and worship the Lord in the meantime through our diligence. Again, these are actions that can translate into worship for the Lord as unto the Lord. We've talked about Colossians 3, 23 through 24 before, which says, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. You don't just work hard because you like that person or the opposite is true. You don't just not work because you don't like that person. You work hard because you are serving the Lord. And practically, maybe that means that you need to reevaluate how you manage your time so you have enough time to practice so you can be prepared. Or maybe it's you have enough time, but maybe your practice time isn't being as efficient as you could be to really be prepared for both those lessons and rehearsals. I know a way that I felt a lot more prepared for rehearsals was actually playing along with a recording and I know that some people might be opposed to this they might have a different opinion but I really thought it helped because it really helped me know what tempos were going to be like I wouldn't get to rehearsal and be just shocked by a tempo that they might take because I really knew how fast it could be or how slow it was going to be and so I wasn't shocked by that I also wasn't shocked by tempo changes within a piece if it starts super slow I'm really ready for the next faster section, those sorts of things. And you kind of get practice what those tempo changes might be like and feel like. So when you get to the rehearsal, you're not experiencing it all for the first time. And in general, It gave me a greater idea of the overall gist of the piece, how it all fits together, all the different sections, that sort of thing. You just don't want to be shocked when you get to rehearsal. You want to do your best to already kind of know how things are going to roll and so that you're prepared. You're on top of it. Nothing shocks you. Nothing surprises you because sometimes when it does, a conductor can tell and they'll feel disrespected by that. If you don't want to play along with it, or maybe you're at the point where you don't know the notes well enough that you legitimately can't, I would for sure at least listen as much as you can. You can learn the same things just by listening. And what's even more helpful would be listening and maybe following your part or following a score. Sometimes you can find those on YouTube, following the score. But even just with your part, listening while watching your part will help prepare you for those things so you're less surprised too. Now, hopefully your teacher will be communicating with you week by week how much they want you to learn of your concerto, let's say, or if they want you to have this whole etude learned by next week. That's ideal. Hopefully your conductor is also communicating with you what they will be rehearsing for each rehearsal. I know that in call sheets, a lot of times for professional orchestras, they'll be saying for this rehearsal, we're going to rehearse these things. Even in college, I know they would send out a thing. Hey, we'll be looking at these spots or whatever to make sure you have those learned and feel good about them before you show up. But sometimes, I don't know, there might be teachers, there might be conductors out there who don't do that. And so they have these expectations that aren't communicated. And that really can cause some strife probably within the orchestra. So if not, maybe this is a time for you to step up and be a leader and just ask them. I don't know how they could be offended by that. Stranger things have happened, but... You might try asking them because if you know the expectation, then you can know how to rise to that. But if expectations are communicated, it is genuinely a lot harder to meet them at times. The next thing I would encourage you to do is to just be teachable. And this takes a lot of humility, which obviously the Bible has a lot to say about. Romans 12, 3 says, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment. Proverbs 18, 12 says, before a downfall, the heart is haughty, but humility Obviously, the Bible has a lot to say about this. But the Bible also shows us the greatest example of humility, which is in the life and love of Jesus. So he can be our example of humility also. Sometimes if we're studying music at a collegiate level or we're a professional orchestra player, we may think we know everything there is to know and about what we're playing and how we're playing it. And so sometimes we feel like we have the excuse then to not be so teachable. And in music, sometimes things are literally up for interpretation. But again, we can honor and worship the Lord by heeding what this person has to say, this conductor or teacher, whoever's in authority over us. can honor the Lord by listening and being teachable. Again, they are in your life for a purpose, not by accident. So let this be a time to practice humility, to challenge you in that. We as Christians, we don't have the excuse that we can be prideful. We have Jesus as our example, and he had every reason to boast, every reason to be prideful. But We don't. We're sinners. We're flawed. And everything that we have is a gift from the Lord. So we have no reason to boast except for in him. Similarly, I would say really try to listen and try to apply what they say. Of course, that takes humility, but it also just takes some self-awareness. James 1, 22 through 25 speaks of this idea in a more biblical school sense, but I also think the principle is true and relates to what we're talking about. It says, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face And after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives forgiveness and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do. So of course, this passage is saying, don't just be hearers of God's word, but also be doers. Let it transform your living. Don't just go to church on Sunday and leave and not apply anything. Not let the Holy Spirit transform your heart and life. But I also think that this principle can be applied here. Don't just hear what your teacher or your conductor maybe has to say, but really do your best to try to apply it. This takes humility, I know, which is hard at times. But if Jesus says, it we can do it right ask yourself is it possible that they're critiquing my playing or something i did because it's true and it's something i need to hear are there areas where i really do need to rise to the occasion better are there areas i really do need to change or habits that i need to change I know it can be uncomfortable to ask these questions sometimes, but I really do think that it is for our greater good and for God's greater glory when we listen and we heed the advice of others and we don't just walk around thinking that we know everything already, right? Because clearly we don't and God doesn't want us to have that haughty heart. The last thing I would say and to just encourage you practically would just be to pray. Remember, God is near to you in everything, everything you go through. You never walk alone. Prayer really reminds you of that, though. Sometimes we can forget that God goes with us in all things, but prayer really reminds us, draws us closer to him. So pray on your way to rehearsal. Pray throughout the day. Pray during rehearsal. Pray at the beginning of the week for that rehearsal. Pray even when you first sign the contract for that rehearsal and that concert schedule. You can never overdo it. And you might be wondering, what can I say in these prayers? I would say, first, always praise God for who He is. Isaiah 26, 3-4 says, Keep your mind fixed on the Lord. And then all the fear of any other human authority will not be able to compare to the glory of the Lord, right? So praising the Lord first will always give you that right perspective of God is great. God is big. And the problems I face really are not so big when compared to him. It's glorifying to him to lift his name high, even when difficulties seem in the forefront of our minds. But like that verse says, he's an everlasting rock. He will never let you down. You can always, Trust him. And there are so many things that we can praise him for even in the midst of our difficulty. First and foremost, that being our priority. But also you have so much freedom in prayer. I would say confide in him. Tell him that you depend on him and you need him to get through this rehearsal or lesson that you can't do it without him. Give it into his hands. Ask him to change and build up your heart as he sees fit. Ask him to give you patience as he slowly transform your heart. There may be a lot of waiting involved where this dilemma is not going to be solved overnight. This relationship and the piece that you're trying to sew is not going to necessarily be a one and done thing. It will be continual. So we need the Lord's grace and patience to keep us in that time. Ask him to give you a heart that fears him more than any person in the world. So much of our fear or intimidation of some of these people is because they have such high expectations and we hate the thought of failing. So ask him to give you a heart that fears him more than failing or pleasing people that you would fear him or and see him big first and foremost. And then last thing, it seems so opposite of our nature, but it would be to pray specifically for those people that you struggle with. If they're a non-believer, pray that they would come to salvation, that God would show them their need for a savior and show them that music will never satisfy the longings in their soul. Only Jesus will. So ask for mission opportunities for yourself and maybe for other Christians that the Lord has placed in their life. Maybe they are Christian, but aren't acting like it. And sometimes that can be even more frustrating that they don't have an excuse for their foolishness, but still. ask that God would soften their heart, that he would convict them, that the Holy Spirit would convict their heart of maybe some areas of sin. And these prayers, I really still do believe at the end of the day, will also soften your heart towards them. It will give you a greater heart, a greater compassion on them. When God sees a sinner, he has compassion, right? And so I pray that we can see people with compassion, even when they sin against us, even when they're difficult. That is how God saw me, a sinner in need of a We can ask that we would have compassion on others who Jesus has compassion on also, that they would come to him. Again, there's so much freedom in prayer. God just wants to hear your heart and pray anything that you want as the spirit leads. Next, we're going to go over some biblical truths that you can stand on through all of this. Promises that the Lord will keep that you can know for certain. Biblical truth that will strengthen your heart in these difficult relationships. Pray them over yourselves so that you are reminded of them constantly. Maybe memorize these scriptures, meditate on them because our hearts can be very deceitful, right? And so we need to inform them with truth in these difficult relationships. your conductor, your teacher, whoever it is, whoever it is that you're thinking about in this episode, they may change. God may change their hearts. He may do a wonderful work in their lives, but they also may not change. And again, if we're waiting for them to change until we can be satisfied or content, that's not worship. That's really more self-seeking and selfishness and pride on our part. So they may not change, but there may be things in our heart that literally do need to change. And the Lord is wanting to sanctify through this whole process. And there are truths that can encourage us and build us up to be strong and courageous in each of these situations. I know I said it earlier, but I want to reinforce that one of the biggest reasons we are intimidated by people with high expectations is the fear of not meeting those expectations and that is the fear of man the fear of failing proverbs 29 25 says the fear of man lays a snare but whoever trusts in the lord is safe we'll do another episode sometime on the fear of man because it's such a prevalent topic in music but you might ask yourself am i intimidated by this teacher or conductor because they're so hard to please and i feel failure and disappointing people? Or is it because of other reasons? But if it is because of fear of failure, then that's an area that we can ask that the Lord would change us in because we always want to fear the Lord, not fear man. Fear of the Lord is good and it's right and it's true and just and glorious, but the fear of man will always lead us to despair. There's no hope and joy in that. It is a good thing to see God as glorious and big and powerful. Nonetheless, This whole episode is about sometimes just the fear that we have walking into those rehearsals, that intimidation of just, wow, like really intense people. And so here are some scripture that I hope will encourage you in that. Romans 8 31 says, What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? You literally have the creator of the universe on your team. He goes with you wherever you go. He will protect you and be with you. There's nothing that your conductor or teacher can say or do that will ever change that truth. He is on your side. Very similarly, Isaiah 41 10 says, so do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. And Psalm 118 says, success. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Again, you have the creator of the universe behind you, beside you, and he goes before you. So really, what can man do? It's kind of silly when you think about it. Man is literally so small. You know, when you go up on like a skyscraper at the top of the Empire State Building or the Sears or Willis Tower, whatever it is in Chicago. Or maybe you look out the window of a tall hotel or like a Ferris wheel or something. You really just see how little man is. And when you think about it, our lives are so fleeting on this earth. They, in the grand scheme of eternity, they last a blip. And so it's just a good reminder of that perspective. Man is so small, but we make them so big in our minds. And we want to always have a greater view of God as God as being holy and huge and glorious and marvelous meant majestic victorious over anything in this earth so there's really no reason to fear these little tiny people you know that you see as specks when you're in in the sky your god your father your friend is the creator of the universe and these little people have nothing when compared to him James 1, 2-4 says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. We don't have to shy away from these difficulties. In fact, we know that the Lord says we will have these difficulties in life. So embrace it. Don't fight against it, but just embrace it and know that the Lord is with you and there are good fruit that will come out of it. There is good sanctifying, good refining going on in these moments. And like this verse says, it will develop perseverance. And James 1, 12a says, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. It's a blessing to get to experience some of this refinement, even though it's through the fire, it is refinement. And it's for our greater good and God's greater glory. There is blessing. There are good things that come out of hard circumstances. So I want to finish by giving you just a little bit of how I've experienced this in my life. My fear probably had and still has a lot to do with the fear of not being liked or the fear of failure and the Lord's working on that. It's something that I can't say is behind me, but I do think there has been so much sanctification, so much refinement in that area for me. The Lord has grown me so much. He changed my heart and revealed himself to be much greater to me than a conductor's opinion. But there have been many times in my life where I've been stressed out and as silly as it sounds, I'd say even a little scared to go to rehearsal because of the intense pressure that is in the room, which comes from the top down as we know. I've also been in orchestra rehearsals where it's less fear, but honestly just more frustration towards people. Their attitudes, some of their musical decisions, whatever it can be, there can be such a temptation for some angers from frustration. And no matter what, the temptation to complain in my heart or with my mouth, to shrink back in fear, to be crippled by the people-pleasing nature has been real for me. But I want to share a story with you from scripture that has given me firm hope to stand on every time. And this comes from Exodus 16. To give you a little backstory, the Israelites had just been rescued from Egypt. God performed the miracle of parting the Red Sea. And they had been in the wilderness for only three days. But they started to complain about God because they were thirsty. But God graciously and miraculously provided them water. Then they say that they would have rather died in Egypt than be set free because at least they had food there. So drama. Let me read you verse three. It says the sons of Israel said to them, would that we have died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Just so dramatic. But you read in verses four to five. It says, then the Lord said to Moses, behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that i may test them whether or not they will walk in my instruction on the sixth day when they prepare what they bring in it will be twice as much as they gather daily So God is testing the Israelites and says, will they be satisfied just by trusting me? He says, don't gather more than what you need for one day. You'll have to trust me to provide for you the next day and the next day and the next day. He did give an exception, which was on the Sabbath, so that they wouldn't work on the Sabbath on Saturday. They could gather two days worth of bread, if that makes sense, so that on Sunday they wouldn't have to gather it. moses and aaron relay this message to the israelites but then god himself comes to tell them in verse ten through twelve which says it came about as aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of israel that they looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the lord appeared in the cloud and the lord spoke to moses saying i have heard the grumblings of the sons of israel speak to them saying at twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread and you shall know that i am the lord your god so the israelites got to see the glory of the lord manifested in a cloud and he wants them to know that he is god and that he will provide for them so then we go to verses thirteen to seventeen it says so it came about an evening that the quails came up and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp when the layer of dew evaporated behold on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine lake like thing fine as the frost on the ground when the sons of israel saw it they said to one another what is it for they did not know what it was and moses said to them it is the bread which the lord has given you to eat this is what the lord has commanded gather of it every man as much as he should You shall take an Omar a piece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent. The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. So the Lord provided them this flake like bread thing, and they took only what they needed for their family for one day. So if they had a big family, then they'd take a little more. If they had a small family, they wouldn't take as much. But each family took what they needed for that day. Then in verse 19 through 21, it says, Moses said to them, let no man leave any of it until morning. But they did not listen to Moses and some left part of it until morning and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them. They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat. But when the sun grew hot, it would melt. So some really were tempted and they thought, I'm not sure that God's going to bring this stuff tomorrow. I think I should just be cautious, make sure that I'm covered and gather more than what I need for today. Some were tempted and some kind of felt prey to the lie that, oh, I really don't know if God's going to provide again tomorrow. I'm just going to leave some for the next day just in case God doesn't provide. He doesn't come back and leave more. god made sure that that bread never lasted it was a useless effort them trying to provide for themselves for tomorrow just in case god failed so it says it got infested with worms it just sounds disgusting but it taught them to just gather morning by morning what they needed for that day and that god would provide for each day at a time then if we skip over to verse 31 through 32 it says the house of israel named it manna and it was like coriander seed white and its taste was like wafers with honey then moses said this is what the lord has commanded let an omer full of it be kept throughout your generations that they may see the bread that i fed you in the wilderness when i brought you out of the land of egypt So they called it manna. That's what we know that bread called by today. And it says that it tasted like wafers with honey. So the graciousness of the Lord to just give them something sweet. It didn't taste bad. It tasted good. It tasted wonderful. And they remembered the Lord's faithfulness. And sometimes they would forget moving forward as we know the rest of the story. But they really didn't want to forget his faithfulness. So they kept a jar full of manna. actually in the Ark of the Covenant, as we later find out. So from that, I just really learned to rest, knowing that God will provide for every day and that I can trust that wherever God guides, whatever people he puts into my path in this classical music world, he will provide for me there, that I don't need to worry about tomorrow, that I can just be in the present and know that he will provide for me a day at a time. I don't just trust him when I see the big picture or I see exactly what he's doing, but I trust him with every singular day, every step that he's establishing along the way. There may be a day when I get to look back and see exactly how the Lord was working this all for my good and his glory. But each little day, I may not be able to see that. All I need to do is today. I don't need to do tomorrow yet. He will give me what I need when I need it tomorrow and the next day and every day. So I don't need to worry about tomorrow. I just trust him with today. He will give you what you need for every single rehearsal, every single lesson. And we don't have to be full of anxiety and thinking, Will God provide? We know with certainty that he will. We can trust him and we can be fueled up every morning getting into the word and feeding on it to give us the satisfaction to feed our hungry souls every morning. I think that's another thing that this passage can teach us is just morning by morning of going out and gathering the food that fills our souls. And that is God's word. That is God's promises that he gives to us more of who he is. So just kind of to wrap up, We praise God that he sent Jesus to us, that we could be reconciled to him and that we could have immense peace in our relationship with him, right? There's no longer this, I'm a sinner and you're a holy and perfect God and we're separate. There is now peace and love in our relationship because of the work that Jesus did on the cross. And we therefore have the ability and the responsibility to live at peace with those in authority over us, even when they're difficult, scary, or even frustrating. We also have the ability and the responsibility on the flip side to live at peace with those who may be under our authority, to be closed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience with those people. And it's possible to do while having high expectations. And we can pray that the Lord will help us navigate those situations well, how to have high expectations and seek excellence also while being compassionate kind humble and gentle but really what jesus did on the cross like that's our example of being in a position of authority but never sinning in it and i think that it comes back to the way that we live the way that we act matters it speaks volumes about where our heart is at and what our heart loves most Luke 6, 45 says that out of the heart, a man speaks. So what's in your heart will come out in the way we act, speak and interact with people. If music is your highest love and that's what your heart cherishes most, then you probably don't care about how terribly you treat other people. So you can get the result, the musical result that you want. If you love yourself most above all things, then you probably don't really care again how you treat other people. You're just trying to preserve yourself. And that I would say is earthly wisdom. But James 3, 17 through 18 says, but the wisdom that is from above always is first of all pure it is also peace-loving gentle at all times and willing to yield to others it is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds it shows no favoritism and is always sincere and those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness So I encourage us to all be peacemakers, no matter where we are in our musical journey. It glorifies God and it is so good for our relationships. So plant seeds of peace in your relationships around you. And in time, there will be a harvest based on James 3, 17 through 18. So I just want to thank you so much for spending part of your day with me today. Make sure to check out the description for more worship songs that I hope will encourage your heart in worship and give you greater insight into some of the things we talked about today. Also in the description, you can check for discussion questions that you can reflect on by yourself or with a group to hopefully just go deeper and apply even more this scripture to your life. If you think you know someone who might be encouraged by today's podcast, please send it to them and make And I'll see you next Monday.