“We
invite you to sit down and play…”
I
had visited quite a few hospitals that had pianos in a great room or in the
lobby. But never had I seen one with a sign inviting people to sit and play.
My
mom, wife, and I were visiting MUSC in Charleston, South Carolina, where my
brother was undergoing surgery to repair a spinal injury from an old wreck. As
the doctors worked on him, we ambled to the first floor to visit the cafeteria
for breakfast. After we finished—and as we walked back to the elevator—I
spotted the piano. Seeing the unusual sign, I read it to Mom.
Mom’s
a sucker for a piano. She’s been playing since she was a small child. She
dreamed of becoming a concert pianist—which she probably could have
accomplished—but she married my dad and became a preacher’s wife instead. But
she never lost her love for tickling the ivories—and showing off a little at
the same time.
“Oh
really,” she said when I read the sign to her. Then she mosied over in her slow
manner and took a seat. Mom can play anything, and without music, but gospel
music is her specialty. She’s played it all her life, beginning when she played
church hymns for the little Methodist congregation where she grew up.
In
our culture, I wondered what kind of crowd she’d draw by playing church hymns.
And MUSC is like taking all the cars in Atlanta, Georgia, turning them into people,
and compressing them into a small area. A lot of folks going in a lot of different
directions, all in a hurry.
As Mom
progressed from one song to another, a few people stopped to enjoy. One young
man took a seat instead of standing. He listened intently as Mom played the old
gospel favorites. When we finally pried Mom away from the piano so we could check
on my brother, the young man thanked her, wiped the tears from his eyes, and
walked away.
I
must admit, I cringed when Mom sat to play. She has a way of embarrassing me
and my brothers sometimes, but I guess she felt a prompting I hadn’t. Someone
needed to hear what she played. I witnessed a God moment.
So
did Philip. Philip enjoyed a great revival in Samaria when God called him to go
to a desert road where he met a single man. He must have wondered why God would
send him to one person when he could have kept preaching to hundreds. He soon
found out. That one man accepted Christ and then returned to his country to
tell others about God’s love.
Catching
the God moments in our lives requires sensitivity to the working of God’s
Spirit in our spirit. Doing so also entails asking God to send them. He wants
to—and is perfectly capable of arranging them—but we must want them and ready
ourselves for them. When we are in close connection with God, which comes from
staying prayed up and Bible read up, we’ll see the opportunities God sends for
us to bless others in His name.
Ask
God to send you some God moments.
Prayer: Father, we thank You for the God moments
You send our way.
Tweetable: Are you paying attention to the God moments?
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