Being a Useful Instrument…

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Cor 1:27-29)

There is a story about a RENOWNED violinist who announced before a concert that he would play one of the world’s most expensive violins. He played the first composition flawlessly, and the audience was thrilled at the performance. After taking his bows, the musician suddenly smashed the instrument, completely demolishing it, as the audience watched in horror. The violinist explained that he had been playing a cheap vio­lin, and then, picking up the expensive instrument, he drew the bow across the strings. The sound was beautiful, but most of the people couldn’t tell any difference between the music from the expensive violin and the cheap one. Why?

The quality of the instru­ment was secondary to the skill of the violinist.

It’s something like that in our service for the Lord. The Master can take ordinary instruments like us and produce beautiful music from our lives. The results of our service depends not so much on us as it does on Him. There are certainly days where I feel like the “cheaper chicken” (Bonus points to anyone who can name that reference!) and not quite up to what God may have in store for me today, but verses like this restore my faith not in myself but in the Master who can use simple clay jars like us to not only bless others but in the process bring Glory to Himself.

It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “God must have loved the common people, since He made so many of them.” Yet it is the common he uses to display the extraordinary, but only when we submit ourselves to be used by Him for His glory. Legend has it that Michelangelo painted with a brush in one hand and a candle in the other to prevent his shadow from covering his masterpiece in progress. Our goal should be to be used by Him in such a way that none of ourselves shows.

On days where I don’t feel up to the task, I can rely on God to carry me through, as long as I allow myself to just be the instrument and him to be the Master.