Over the last couple of months, I’ve been rediscovering just how much I like playing the piano and the keyboard. I’m not a professional by any means, but I’ve recently been learning to play a couple of songs after a long hiatus. It’s one of those things I always wanted to do but kept putting off. And now that I’m finally doing it, I have to say, I’m really enjoying it!

In addition to learning to play the piano again, I’ve also discovered some parallels playing the piano has with my walk with God, i.e. lessons playing the piano is teaching me about my faith walk. I would like to share five of such lessons in this blog post. I should state here that these are lessons I am very much still in the process of learning and have by no means perfected. That said, I do hope they are a blessing to you and spur you to action.

IN SYNC

The first is the beauty of being in perfect sync with the composer’s tune, of getting the pitch and rhythm just right; the joy of playing a piece perfectly, and delighting in just how melodious it sounds.

This is accompanied by the realisation that it doesn’t just happen at the snap of a finger or the click of a button, but that there are steps that need to be taken to get there. From listening and learning to identify chords and sounds, to playing the right key at the right time, then the next right key, and the next, learning to rest when the composer has incorporated a ‘rest’, and continuing with the music after the rest. Knowing that if we want to play the song as the composer intended, it makes far more sense to follow what the composer has laid out than to try to guess which note comes next or fumble along unguided.

As I think about this, I’m reminded of the beauty of walking in sync with God’s perfect plan, of living a totally surrendered life. I’m also reminded that walking in obedience to God is a step by step process, where we learn to listen to and recognise God’s voice (John 10:27), trust His step-by-step leading and timing (Psalm 18:30, Psalm 23, Ecclesiastes 3:11), and as I learnt in church on Sunday, we ‘keep on doing the next right thing’. We carry on trusting in the Lord and obeying His promptings to do good, again and again and again (Psalm 37:3).

As we keep doing this, over time we will be able to look back and see the beauty and harmony of a life in sync with God’s perfect plan, and what a glorious life that will be.

STICKY TRICKY SPOTS

The second has to do with the ‘sticky tricky spots’. This lesson was actually inspired by someone I listened to. Over time, I began to realise that for some of the trickier pieces, there would be a particular section of the music I would keep making mistakes in. No matter how many times I practiced, once I got to that section, for some reason I just could not get it right. Eventually I realised that there was a flaw in the way I was practicing those pieces. I was basically repeating the piece over and over in the hope of getting it right at some point. But what I needed to do was to actually pause, figure out why I kept making mistakes in that section of the music, and come up with a plan to work on it during my practice. Once I did this, it did not take long before I was able to play every one of those pieces perfectly, and experience the relief and joy of finally getting them right! If I had not taken the time to pause-reflect-correct, I would probably still be struggling to play those pieces perfectly to this day.

As I thought about this, I realised just how much these sticky spots are like besetting sins. Besetting sins are sins we seem to have an ongoing struggle with, sins we repeatedly struggle to conquer, sins we have a natural inclination to. These sins might be different for each of us, but the effects they have, of pulling us away from God, of burdening us with guilt and shame, of making us doubt our identity as Christians, are pretty similar.

Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Or, as the NLT puts it, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Just like I did with the pieces I practiced, we may be tempted to keep going as we are, hoping that one day we will stop being so easily tripped up by these sins. However, the Bible is clear that we have a responsibility to lay aside these weights, these sins that so easily trip us up. The truth is that without a concerted, intentional, determined effort on our part, and a clear action plan on how we aim to work at ‘laying aside’ these sins, they will keep tripping us up.

In some cases, they may be sins we have observed in our parents or other family members. We may have lived with them for so long that we have even accepted them as part of who we are. We might even say, ‘that’s just the way I’m wired’, ‘there’s nothing I can do about it’. However these are obviously lies from the devil to keep us trapped. Thankfully, we are not ignorant of his devices! (2 Corinthians 11).

Now as Christians, we may wonder why we still struggle with certain sins. I believe the answer is that while justification (i.e. being declared righteous) is instant, sanctification (becoming holy, set apart) is an ongoing process.

The Bible is clear that “it is God’s will that you should be sanctified…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3a,NIV), and that sanctification is something we need to work at. Hebrews 12:14 (NIV) notes that we should “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” The NLT says “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” Other translations use the words ‘strive’, ‘try’, ‘pursue’, ‘continually pursue’.

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NLT) says, “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.”

James 4:8 (ESV) states, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

All these verses signify that we need to put in some effort here. Now I need to emphasise, we are not trying to be justified, Christ has already done that. Romans 5:1 makes it clear that we have been justified through faith. Galatians 2:16 (ESV) also states “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

What we are expected to do though is to work at our sanctification. Alas, this won’t be something that magically happens one day, but something that requires quite a bit of work.

It would be helpful to pause here for a moment of reflection, and ask ourselves the following:

‘Are there any particular sins or habits I find myself struggling with again and again, things that draw me away from God, from spending time with Him?’

Once we identify these, the next questions are, what is our step by step plan to “lay them aside”? Can we prayerfully take the time to come up with a plan, remembering that the Holy Spirit is always ready to help us? Who can we ask to help keep us accountable?

As a Chinese proverb says, ‘the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now’. So, what do you say we get cracking with that plan now?

MULTIPLE CHANCES

The third lesson is that just as it took many, many rounds of practice and multiple mistakes along the way to get to that state of perfection in playing a song, so it is with our Christian walk. We will make mistakes, we will trip. The only person that walked this earth and never tripped was Jesus. But, as 1 John 2:1 (ESV) encourages, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Romans 8:26 (ESV) reminds us that “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

God is a God of multiple chances. You only have to read through the Old Testament to see that. He is patient, merciful and gracious. 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) states “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) tells us that “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Isaiah 30:18 states “Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.”

Beloved, please don’t give up on yourself, God has not and will not give up on you. Proverbs 24:16 tells us that the righteous may trip seven times, but they will get up again. I don’t know about you, but I have certainly tripped far more than seven times. In fact I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tripped. I can only thank God for His mercy and patience with me. It is only because of His great mercy that I’m still standing, praise God!

ALL IN

The fourth is that playing with both hands is much better than playing with one (the caveat here being that you have functional use of both hands). According to AI, “Playing the piano with two hands is essential because it allows you to play a fuller range of notes, create richer harmonies by playing different parts with each hand (like melody in the right and bass in the left), and access the full potential of the instrument by utilizing the wide range of pitches across the keyboard, which most piano music is designed to be played with both hands simultaneously. Essentially, it enables a more complex and complete musical expression compared to playing with only one hand.” In summary, it’s just better to use both hands to play.

The parallel lesson here? Go all in! Jesus cautions against being half in and half out. In Luke 9:62, He says “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Philippians 3:13 tells us to forget what is behind and press forward to what is ahead. Revelation 3:15-16 (BSB) cautions against being lukewarm, saying “I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!”

Wow! Strong words. But they do drive the point home. God does not want us to have one hand in His Kingdom and one hand in the world, or one leg in, one leg out. He wants total commitment. The question is, can we give Him that?

…AND TOGETHER!

The fifth and final lesson is that, as nice as the piano sounds on its own, when it is played in sync and in tune with other instruments, the overall effect is magnificently glorious. Verily verily, I say unto you, there is harmony in true unity.

The parallel lesson? We are not called to walk the Christian walk solo, but in community with other believers. Because the truth is that, no matter how good we may sound on our own, we will sound so much better together.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) encourages us to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (BSB) says “Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.”

Colossians 3:16 (NLT) says, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”

However, this must be done in love and unity. Otherwise it becomes a cacophony of noise. As 1 Corinthians 13:1 (ESV) puts it, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

Remember also the prayer Jesus made to His Father while still on earth: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” I think this was actually one of the last prayers Jesus made to His Father regarding His disciples, which just illustrates how important our unity as believers is to Him.

The way to achieve true unity is to have one focus, Jesus. As A.W. Tozer notes, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

If unity is important to Jesus, then shouldn’t it be important to us also? As we reflect on this, are there any other practical steps we can take to build each other up, to encourage unity among believers, and by so doing, allow the glorious sound of our unity saturate the Heavens and the world around us?

IN CONCLUSION…

I pray that as we reflect on these lessons, we will be spurred on to put them into practice, to be in sync with our Heavenly Father’s perfect will for our lives, to work out a plan for those tricky, slippery spots, remembering that God is patient, merciful and gracious. May we be willing to dive all in, rather than having one hand on the piano/plough, one hand elsewhere, and to do all we can to promote unity in the Body of Christ. As we do so, may we be ever conscious of God’s presence with us, gently guiding, encouraging, advising, helping, loving us as He moulds us to become more and more like Jesus. Amen.

Image source here.