[PRAISE] It came together
Posted by: sruesch <sruesch@...>
I played at church yesterday and thought I would relate how God answers prayer.
It started when I notified the MOM early last week that I couldn't make practice because my work schedule was changed. I asked if I should find a replacement, but found out the 2 other bass players would not be there on Sunday. Apparently there was some miscommunication because word got back to me that I couldn't play and it was implied that I couldn't play until further notice. Wow, how things change in the translation. Anyway, I calmed that issue down by reiterating that I only could not make practice.
Next, the song list was not available until Wednesday. It is supposed to be in our hands on Monday. It was also at this time I found out we were going to have a mixed group due to absences (a Men's Retreat and Youth Retreat were coincident with 11/2). I was to play with people I had not played with in a long, long time.
I suggested practicing on Friday or Saturday, but this did not work out for the MOM and his wife. They were in the process of moving into a new house on those 2 days. Understandable. This left us with Sunday morning before service to practice.
Our song list consisted of 7 Hillsongs (This is How We Overcome; Touching Heaven Changing Earth; In Freedom; I Will Bless You Lord; Jesus, You Gave it All; Yes and Amen; Holy Spirit Rain Down) and In the Secret. We started practicing with a song and you could just tell something was off. We tried another, same thing. We went through the entire list and nothing was working. It wasn't just one area. It was everything, me included (maybe me mostly). Timing was off, transistions flubbed, endings just kind of tailing off because no one knew where to go. In short, we were in trouble. It must have been noticeable to the outside too because the Pastor came in about midstream and prayed for us and the service (he has seldom done that before that I remember).
In the 15 minutes before service I remembered that the previous keyboardist I played with did some alterations to I Will Bless You Lord. She cut measures out and did not like the alternate chording used for the chorus the second time around. We ran out of time to practice this song and just did one verse and chorus, so we never got to the parts in question. I asked the new keyboardist which way she was going to do this and she didn't know. I suggested just play it as written. We ended up asking the MOM (little musical instrument background, but a strong vocal/choral background) and to his credit, elected to do the song just as we practiced the one-time through and just loop that around (As an aside, we never did this song because of time constraints).
I then prayed one serious prayer to God that there was absolutely no way I could do this. He would have to do it for me. The flesh had no chance of making this work. I needed God's intervention. I also prayed this same prayer for the rest of the group because we were all in the same boat. As we walked onto the platform, the MOM also prayed a similar prayer just before we started.
Amazingly, I was not the least bit nervous. This was the ultimate train-wreck in the making. If there is a time to be uneasy and edgy, this was certainly it. And if you know me, you know that I need to feel prepared to be comfortable. My worst fear is that I will do something that is a distraction to worship, yet I did not feel any pressure.
Well, this story has a happy ending. It was like a different group was up on the platform for the service. The turn around was incredible. The Holy Spirit had taken over. We even received compliments on how good things sounded. To be sure, God had answered our prayers. We were backed in a corner and had to rely on His help. How great God is!
Scott