I have always thought of ministries with all their related gifts as a grand orchestra playing together as the Master Conductor directs each and every instrument. And what is created is beyond music’s limits. The following story written by an anonymous author some years ago, is related to what I want to share with you.
Once there was a violinist who played in an enormous symphony orchestra. There was nothing he loved better than hearing the beautiful sounds of the orchestra’s music. But the man was discouraged and felt very insignificant in the midst of so many instruments.
“What difference does it make if I play or not?” he thought. “No one could possibly hear my single violin among all the other great musicians in the orchestra.”
Then one day, the violinist missed rehearsal. The conductor called him aside the next day and said, “We missed you yesterday. Something didn’t sound quite right when the orchestra began, and it was then that I noticed you were gone. You play so beautifully – and I want you to know that it’s truly a pleasure to have you in the orchestra.”
The violinist was astounded. “Do you mean that you can distinguish my instrument from all the others?”
“Of course,” the conductor answered him. “How else would I be able to advise each musician to play louder or softer, slower or faster?”
Each of us have “those times” when we wonder if we make a difference in this big world of ours of 8,119,059,282 people. Is our small contribution even worth the effort? Is anybody’s life better because of mine intersecting theirs? We look at others and think they are more significant, more important, more gifted, more talented, more skilled and masterful in their craft, etc., than I could ever be. In fact, you may not even know what your God given craft is. We extol them and diminish ourselves. Don’t you know that we should never measure ourselves by others. There is only ONE that we should use as our point of measure – and that One is JESUS.
God in His great love, wisdom and foresight made unique and abundant provision for each of His children for our future before we even received Jesus. Jeremiah 1:5 says that “before I formed thee in the belly I knew you (had you in mind who you would be), and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you (set you apart), and I ordained you (assigned you to be) …” And while God was speaking to Jeremiah directly of his call, this principle still applies to all of His children through the ages. Psalm 139:15-17 also declares the wonder of “you”. Please read it and be encouraged. God has invested a lot of thought in the designing of you, and His plans for you. The key to success in unfolding God’s plan in our life is we must yield to the process so that we can become all He wants us to be. And that is the same key that will unlock, release and expand the gifts in your life that He has equipped you with. So, what do we then see? We are in a plan of God’s own making, custom fit for us and have been set on a pathway to be an agent of change through using the gifts, talents and abilities that God has put within your heart and mind. And YOU WILL make a difference! You are an “instrument” of praise. And we need every instrument to make it possible for the symphony to play the music of heaven.
So then, within each of us, there are treasures to be mined that must be discovered, revealed, identified, and cultivated. They must be used in order to grow and expand in our ability to minister the love of God to so many who need healing, deliverance and counsel. If they are not used, they become as ineffective as a violinist sitting in an orchestra holding a Stratavarius violin but not playing it. The violin cannot make music on its own. It needs the person holding it in order to make music.
People need the Lord. We are the ones God has sent to them to let them know He cares, and He is here, right now, right where we are and they are. And when we use the gifts – the treasures God has planted within us, we are an instrument of praise making the music of heaven.
Remember, YOU are a miracle going someplace to happen when you use the gifts God has given you.
Heartgate International Ministries 