Anything Less Than Him
by Anne Lawrence
I have a friend who plays in an orchestra (as I used to do many years ago!). We were talking about her experiences, and this led on to talking about music, orchestras and conductors. Did you know that conductors are trained to such a level that they can hear all the individual sounds that every instrument in their orchestra is playing all at once. If any instrument plays a wrong note, they can hear it. A university friend of mine studying music told me that if he heard a recording of a classical piece, he could pick up if the third violin played a note flat and that would ruin the piece for him.
It’s not only conductors. Coffee buyers who taste coffee for a living have such a sensitive and trained palette that coffee which is sub-standard or not prepared well is something they can’t bear. They’re ruined for anything less.
You don’t get to that level of ability or skill without hard work, perseverance and practice – lots of practice.
Isn’t it like that with us and the Lord?
As we get to know Him and His voice more and more, we’re able to pick up His small whispers. We feel the sense of His presence and delight in it, even when it’s hard. We get to know His character – what delights Him and what displeases Him. We’re ruined for anything less than Him, His path for us and His ways. Even if it’s hard, anything less than Him is just not good enough. It has to be Him. It has to be His way. It has to be His voice, His joy in our hearts, His presence in and through us.
Oh, how we need that sensitivity, that fine tuning, that intimacy, that training – in order to live lives that bring glory to His name.
Prayer: Lord, I seek more of You. Help me to persist in Your ways and Your path so I become more and more sensitive to Your voice and Your leading. Lord, I don’t want anything less than You – anything else other than Your will and way in my life. Amen.
Anne Lawrence joined the team at Ellel Grange in 2010 and is the Deputy Centre Director. She is married to Paul, Centre Director. Anne previously worked in education. Her last post was CEO of a College in Dublin. She has written courses, syllabi and a book for the English for Work series published by Longman. She has a heart for the broken and a passion to see people set free and released into more of what the Lord has for them. She loves to teach, listen, worship and create things.
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