Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord. (Psalm 96:11, 13 NIV)
A mixture of magenta and tangerine splayed across the sky. A hush fell over the car as the kids and I watched with wonder. I pulled off the side of the road to photograph yesterday’s sunrise. They too felt it and tried to capture the moment on their electronic devices. Spectacular! My cell phone camera does not begin to capture the beauty our eyes beheld.
As we continued to drive to school, I shared with Andrew and Rachel that everything God does is to bring glory to Himself. This stunning sunrise resonated a glimpse of God’s glory, smiling over all of creation.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. (Psalm 98:4 NIV)
As the day progressed I recalled the verses I wrote in my journal. I took poetic license and substituted the word ‘harp’ for ‘violin’ in Psalms 98:5 I was a jangle of nerves about my upcoming violin recital, I asked God to forgive me for being more worried and focused on my playing rather than honoring Him. “It’s not about me, it’s about you,” I wrote in my journal.
Praise him with strings! (Psalm 150:4 NIV)
Eleven hours after the glorious sunrise, I was prepared to check an item #6 off my bucket list:
Learn to play the violin.
Dressed in all black, I stood in the back row with the other adult violinists. I was thankful to be somewhat hidden behind the two rows of children. As the newest student, with only a dozen lessons under my belt, I was worried I would play the wrong note and everyone would turn to look at me. As we began playing, my confidence and my hands were shaking. (Shaking hands with the violin is never a good combination.) “To my audience of one” I prayed:
Let them praise your great and awesome name- He is Holy! (Psalms 99:3 NIV)
The Christmas violin program was comprised of eighteen songs, however I only learned eight songs for the program. When we progressed to the songs I did not know, I quietly stood in the rest position. With the violin tucked under my right arm and the bow dangling from my right hand, I waited my turn. A strange phenomenon occurred while I was in this rest position. The violin began to resonate!
Merriam Webster defines resonate as: verb-
1) To continue to produce a loud, clear, deep sound for a long time
2) To have particular meaning or importance for someone
3) To affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way
There is a significant amount of physics to describe how a violin resonates. Since I hated physics in college, I won’t subject you to that misery now, but I will give a simple explanation of what I learned. The violin continued to resonate because of all the excited air molecules produced by the other violinists.
While waiting my turn to play, I listened to a beautiful symphony of songs honoring the Christ child. God reminded me of the conversation I had with the children earlier that day: “Everything God does is to bring glory to Himself.” Whether a stunning sunrise or a resonating violin, all of the earth and everything in it will rejoice before the Lord!
~April
“May you and I be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:12
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