The Sweet Sound of Surrender
by: Melissa Davis
Do you have one of these? You know, the special something you have collecting dust as you pass it by every day. Mine is an acoustic guitar that sits in my guest room. It’s sleek, black, and absolutely stunning. I bought it a few years ago at an auction, hoping it would motivate me to find an instructor who could teach me to play.
Occasionally, I’ve picked it up, fiddled with it, and put it back. Yet day after day, I walk past my guitar perched perfectly on its stand, promising myself I’ll pick it up again. But mastering an instrument takes discipline, time, and commitment to practicing. The problem is, life is full of distractions and it’s easy to put things off especially if you don’t realize a problem building on the horizon.
As the guitar sits there looking so beautiful, something not so beautiful is gradually happening to it. It’s going more and more out of tune as each day passes; because I have learned that guitars need to be tuned constantly to sound just right.
Isn’t this how it is with us in our walk with Christ? We may look great on the outside, but on the inside, our human hearts are often out of tune! Instead of recognizing our need to be tuned by the Master, we tend to trust and believe more in our own feeble ability to ‘pull the right strings’.
Our wandering hearts are so much like this; constantly bound to life’s daily activities and human pleasures, delaying our priceless time spent with God. We find ourselves in a frequent state of putting our own desires and ways before God’s, and yet we expect a symphony of beautiful music to pour out of our lives.
“Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace…”
I think of the hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, a beautifully poetic prayer that begins by asking God to ‘tune’ our hearts as one would tune an instrument. Just as one would align their instrument’s notes with a tuner before playing it, we who wish to be used by God in beautiful ways must also align our hearts with the Divine Tuner. Before we play at life, we need to come in constant surrender to the Tuner’s way and will. Jesus reminds us of this in John 15:5: “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love…”
If I’m ever going to learn how to play the guitar and be good at it, I’ll need to graduate from that one chord I know and entrust myself to a master teacher!
Time spent alone with God, our Master, is our lifeline where we align with and hear the voice of our Creator, receive God’s power, and recommit ourselves to the Master’s will. If we could learn to commit to ‘practicing the presence of God’*, revelling in God’s goodness in praise and worship, imagine what kinds of sounds could pour out of our lives if we truly trusted the instruction of the Master.
“Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”
Daily lessons with the Lord have taught me God is good, faithful, and trustworthy. In surrendering to God’s leadership, I have received His power which equips me for the work the Master has called me to. In aligning my heart with God’s, I am reminded that my life belongs to the Master, and everything I do is a beautifully tuned offering back in praise.
All quoted headings taken from: Robinson, Robert. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. John Wyeth Repository of Sacred Music, 1813.
*Brother Lawrence: The Practice of the Presence of God the Best Rule of a Holy Life: Being Conversations and Letters of Nicholas Herman of Lorraine (brother Lawrence). New York: F.H. Revell, 1895.
Dr. Melissa Davis is an active concert soloist, music professor, choral conductor, worship leader, vocal instructor, and clinician. Dedicated to music ministry for over thirty years in the GTA and abroad, she currently serves as Director of the Music Department at Tyndale University, Toronto.
Check out her music ministry and performances here.