Tune Up

Playing my 12 string that I’ve owned and played since 1978.  

 

”Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,“ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144‬:‭1‬, ‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬

    I’ve played guitar for over 50 years now, and no matter how long I play there is always something that’s required in order to play, and that is to tune the guitar. No matter what guitar you play, it requires tuning at some point. There are some guitars that stay in tune better than others. But even the most expensive guitar at some point needs to tune. No guitar plays by itself, and depending on whose hands it is in, will determine the sound coming out of it. Even though I’ve played for over 50 years, I personally know people that have played for way fewer years, but can make my guitar sound like I’ve never been able to make it sound. Level of skill and talent. But that doesn’t stop me from playing.

   Sometimes life is like my guitar. It needs a tune up. There are a couple of ways of doing that. You could just tune it to itself, and you’ll be fine as long as you don’t try to play along with someone else, then you may be out of tune depending on what you used for your starting tuning pitch. Next you could use an electric tuner. This is often my go to now, and they now make them that easily clip on your head of your guitar, and hear and feel the vibration of the guitar to get it in tune. The final way you can tune a guitar is to go an instrument like a piano, and tune to it. If you’re tuning to an electric keyboard, your pitch will be exact to A44, as an electric keyboard can’t go out of tune, like a stringed instrument. 

   The devil loves to come along when you’re not looking and twist your tuning pegs down a pitch, to get you out of tune and sounding awful. Your own human nature can do the same. But it’s when you realize you need a tune up, you can turn to the one with the true pitch. God never goes out to tune. His pitch is perfect, and when we tune UP to Him, we can begin to do battle with our fingers and fight a winning war with praise on our ‘stringed’ instrument. 

   So how do we tune UP to God. By digging into His Word, the Bible, and not just reading, but doing it. Don’t worry, you’ll need to tune up often. I often have to tune up in between songs, as I tend to play pretty hard, and can easily get my guitar out of tune. I don’t beat myself up for getting out of tune, I just make the adjustment and get back in tune, so I can continue to play and make music that’s pleasant to listen to.

Solve the Riddle

 There are people who love to tell riddles, and they're usually good at solving them. I'm not in that group of people. I usually sit there feeling stupid till someone else solves it, and then I have to ask to have the solution explained to me. I'm also in that group of people who often mess up the punch line of a joke. Riddles are just so hard. They're a mystery to me. 

   I was so pleased to find this scripture recently while reading through the book of Psalms.  "I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with the inspiration from a harp." Psalms 49:4 NLT Now this verse I get!

   I have often had a perplexing problem in my life and didn't know what to do, but then, while worshipping God, usually with my guitar in my hand, the answer came to me. I was being scriptural but didn't even realize it. Each time, I was so thankful to the Lord for bringing the answer to me. One time, in particular, a picture of something came to me while I was worshipping. In this case, it was a picture of a dress. I had never seen one like that, so later, I found a piece of paper and pen, and I sketched it out. Later that year, I needed to make a dress for my daughter for her brother's wedding. I came up with a design and made it. Later, I found that piece of paper from earlier, and here it was, exactly the dress I had just designed and made. I'd forgotten about the drawing, but it was in my heart, so it still came out. During that time of worship, when I saw that 'dress,' I was a little irritated at 'seeing' it because I just wanted to worship, and here I was, seeing a dress in my mind's eye. But God downloaded it to me because I was worshipping. My focus was on Him, and then He gave me what I was going to need.

You might not play a stringed instrument, but you can still worship God. You don't worship to solve riddles or problems in your life. You just worship the Lord from your heart. And sometimes,
He can bring you the answer to your riddle while you worship. 

Every moment is a good time to praise. Anywhere you are. At any time. Lift your voice and heart to him. 

Feeling at Home

The courtesy loaner car

 My Jeep has been at the repair shop for the last few days. It was running really rough. So far, the mechanic can't find anything wrong, so it will possibly be chalked up to the extreme cold weather, and maybe some bad gas. So, while my Jeep has been in the shop for the last three days (it was on a waiting list to be looked at), the shop loaded me this sporty little Hyundai car. It's a fairly new car, as it only has 10,000 miles on it (I can put that much on in a few months!) and has quite a few bells and whistles that I've never had before in a car. Of course, being a new car, there's no key for the ignition, just a button to push that relays off the fob you must have with you. It has a fancy backup camera and lots of other features I have yet to figure out.

    It always makes me a little nervous driving a vehicle I'm not used to. I don't automatically know where the buttons or levers are that control things. Of course, all cars are standard, thank God, in the turn signals, gas, and brake pedal, but other than that, you have to relearn with each vehicle where things are. The car, of course, gets me down the road just the same as my Jeep, although my visual sight range is quite a bit lower to the ground than my Jeep, and I'm pretty sure the gas mileage is way better in this little car. As I was driving it yesterday, running a few errands, I got to thinking about the correlations to life. Sometimes, we even temporarily have to switch our mode of travel through life. Even though our regular way is getting us down the road of life, sometimes, that needs to be brought in for repairs and maintenance. But that doesn't mean our journey has to stop or end. Another mode of transportation is offered. Sometimes, it feels a little uncomfortable and unfamiliar, but it still gets you down the road. It can look different in shape and color and even in horsepower under the hood. Whether it's just temporary or you make a more permanent change, there's always a period of adjustment. Sometimes, that can happen in just a few minutes of looking over the controls; that can be a much larger and lengthier learning curve in other vehicles. The more you drive the new vehicle the more you get comfortable with it. Eventually, it feels like it's yours and drive without consciously thinking about where everything is located. You feel at home. 

Feeling at home is a great feeling. I haven't had that feeling for some time. I've moved around 25 times and currently don't have a home to dwell in, except my one on wheels. Even at that, I currently am not in my motorhome, as the weather in Montana got a little too cold to stay in it. We all long for that 'feeling at home' state. Where we aren't constantly adjusting and changing how we live. But the reality is, nowhere on earth is my permanent home, but God does promise to His children that He has a home and place for us in heaven.  John 14:2: "My Father's house has many dwelling places. If it were otherwise, I would tell you plainly because I go to prepare a place for you."  But God has also promised us a place here on earth. "My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places..." Isaiah 32:18  that sounds like a place called home.

The best place to feel at home is "in Christ." That's where we're hidden in the secret place of the most High.  Psalms 91:1: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 

    I know I always have a home in Christ, but my current physical abode is still an adjustment. It takes time to adjust, even if it's just temporary. The controls are in a different location. I find it necessary to just stay calm and keep driving. My repairs are being made on my vehicle and I will soon be back in it driving to the next destination, and maybe even someday I'll have that 'I'm at home' feeling again.

Be an Expert on Today

   

  Several times in my life, I suddenly was called upon to get up and say something, and I had no prior preparation or warning that this would happen. The next day, I often think of way better things I should have said because now I'm an expert on what yesterday should have been.  

   Why is it that tomorrow I’ll be the expert on today, but today, I fumble through and seem uncertain of my decisions, choices, and words?  We’re all experts tomorrow on what should have been said and done today.  But today, I’m an amateur, still learning what to do.  I’ve often thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could live my teenage years or early adult years over with the knowledge I have now?  But then, I got this knowledge, having lived through those years and learning life’s lessons.  So, by living today, I can gain from my past and not make the same mistakes I did back then.  Hopefully, I will always make my tomorrow a better place.  Today is when I make the decision to learn from yesterday so my tomorrow is better.  So be an expert on today by learning from the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).