Have you ever lived a dream vicariously through one of your children? I know we shouldn’t make a habit of doing that, but I actually got to experience a little bit of a dream a few weeks ago. I had the privilege of sitting in on one of Brienne’s recording sessions as she played and sang a couple songs in her piano instructor’s studio.
The whole process was fascinating to me, and I learned so much by watching and listening.
First, Brienne’s instructor directed her to play through the song on the piano while he recorded it with his computer system. So she played it. Four times. Each time she played, she made a tiny mistake in a different part of the song. As a pianist myself, I understand the difficulty of getting through an entire song without making a single mistake. And add to that the pressure to perform for a recording – I’m sure she was quite nervous.
I kept waiting for her to play the piece perfectly, but it turns out that perfection wasn’t necessary because her instructor did something unexpected. He began to splice together all of the recordings until he had a beautiful and perfect rendition of the song.
After the piano accompaniment was complete, Brienne then got up and headed to the microphone where she sang the song a few times as her instructor recorded her vocals. And again, he spliced together her recordings, omitting any mistakes, until her pitch and melody were perfect throughout the entire song.
This process was fascinating to me, partly because I was living vicariously through my twelve-year old. (I mean, how amazing would it be to record your own CD?) But also I couldn’t help thinking how wonderful it would be if all our mistakes could just be covered up and spliced out of our lives.
In a way, this is exactly what happens when we decide to put our faith in Christ. His blood covers our past, present, and future sins so that we are washed clean. When the Lord looks at our lives, He sees purity and righteousness, and I am thankful for that.
But He can also use our past mistakes.
At one point during Brienne’s recording, her voice broke a little, resulting in a raspiness that she didn’t really like. She wanted to record that portion again because it didn’t sound “perfect” to her, but to me, as a listener, I thought it sounded beautiful. It may not have been flawless, but it sounded raw and honest, resulting in a different kind of perfection.
We often want to get rid of our past, gloss over it, pretend it didn’t actually happen. But the Lord can use every ugly situation we have been through, every sin we have committed, and He can splice together a beautiful rendition of our lives. We may not love when our “voice” breaks a little, but He is able to turn those mistakes into a raw and honest melody. Our lives may not look perfect, they may seem a little “raspy” to those around us, but if we allow Christ to lead us, He can use anything we’ve been through and turn our lives into the perfect song all while bringing Him glory.
Friend, you may have been through some difficult situations in your past. Or you might be going through something right this minute. Maybe you’re struggling with a particular sin or you feel shame for something you did fifteen years ago. Whatever you’re dealing with, know that God sees you as His perfect child, washed white as snow. Let Him cover you in the blood of Christ. And then allow Him to use your struggles to bring glory to Himself. Let Him use your situation to help others come to know Him in a more personal way.
He wants to weave together the moments of your life to make a perfect melody. Will you let Him orchestrate that today?