Psa 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psa 37:6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but there is this other way that, though contrary to what may seem right, will result in all the right stuff and the ability to judge correctly. Where there is faulty judgment and a resulting hovering cloud of depression and guilt, an opportunity is provided in this way for light to be shown and judgments corrected.

That ultimate occupation, the ability to play that instrument, or the athletic skill to play professionally- all these things may be dreamed about from childhood, but the ones who actually live their dreams are the ones who have learned the principle of commitment to a way or discipline that is beyond what they might come up with on their own. It’s not enough to passionately desire it. There will be no progress made if there is just a bunch of talk or planning. Until there is the simplest of actions taken to live in the way of that dream, giving up that old way that might have seemed right or desirous, it will only die without ever having been experienced. Until there is humble acceptance of the proven way of the masters in a particular area of discipline, there will never be ascension to their level of expertise. Trusting in and committing to their wise instruction will, over time, bring to pass the desired and dreamed for results.

Ok, so the ‘commitment’ has been made and the way has been accepted as valid- what takes place next is what will truly test the validity of that commitment. Though the ‘way’ itself is one that will surely lead to the desired end, there will be times when, from all apparent views, there is no way it could possibly end up there, that there is a much easier and quick way that doesn’t require all the discomfort of the master’s way.

I had an experience at the end of my freshman year in college that brought this option before me – the master’s or my own way. I had been working on this piece of music that had sections requiring a certain technique in order to play smoothly. I was feeling somewhat confident in my playing of this piece and, when my teacher had me play for this incredible master in a master class at the end of my freshman year, I quietly looked forward to the praise I thought I might get. If he did give me even one positive word, however, I will never remember it, because he immediately began to inform me that my ‘way’ of playing the guitar (the way I sat, held my hands, looked, and practiced) would never get me anywhere. If I really wanted to even begin to play the guitar, I would have to let go of what I had thought I was up to. I would have to go back to the very basics, with a passion for the simplest of motions that were compliant with his instructions. No matter how uncomfortable or initially unproductive was his way, I would have to let go of my old way, even though it had seemed to be somewhat successful.

I was initially shaken, discouraged, and humiliated, but there was something else that took place in me- I was challenged to change and accept adjustments that had promise of improvement and mastery. I am still today impacted and affected by the words of that master long ago, but in the months and years immediately following my challenge, I had a serious choice to take his words to heart and apply them, or revert and embrace the undisciplined way that had been ‘working’. It was so incredibly difficult to let go of positions and methods that had been so ingrained with practice over several years already. Instead of just having fun ‘playing’ interesting songs, I had to spend hours a day just working on exercises that would adjust my wrongful practices.

There is promise of life in Christ. There is reason to remain on this path towards the light of righteousness. His way, though, will first require commitment to many methods, positions, looks, and practices that might seem quite uncomfortable and unnatural at first. Then, to continue on the ‘way’ that He provides will require more than just commitment. There will be times when the temptation to just slip back into that old ‘working’ way will be too much to resist all alone. This is when a relationship with the Master will make possible complete trust in the way He requires. Instead of just blindly pushing forward with something that makes no sense, we can have great confidence based upon the proven friendship and faithfulness of our Redeemer. When the challenge before us gets to be too much, we can set before us a joy in His presence that will remove the power of the old ‘way’s’ draw and free us to remain on the way He has shown with our commitment intact.

To really know Him is to walk in His way. trusting at every steep grade with an attitude of honoring worship. In letting His way become ours, though, there is great confidence that our righteousness in Him will “come forth as the light, and our judgment as the noonday. ” May this day be one in which His way prevails over what may have once seemed so natural, and may there be an ever broadening embrace of the One that makes trusting in this way an incredibly easy thing.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 6:07 am and is filed under Faithfulness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.