Temper Tantrum Praying
Ever prayed and wondered if God was listening? Ever tried to focus really, really hard or get really loud or really discouraged or sad, hoping He would answer?
If your answer is “Yeah, totally.” Then you’re telling the truth, otherwise, well…you know.
Although, i think some of those things get us to a place of brokenness and/or faith that we may not have been at before, those actions themselves certainly don’t cause God to want to answer any quicker.
God showed me something today. Those times He doesn’t answer quickly or the way you want or at all, He’s always saying “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Here’s what He showed. i’m the head of the sound department at my church.
Side note: if you ever want help with learning how to be humble, join the sound team. We are the only people who serve in church the entire service, for every service, while working at least an hour(often more) before the service, working an hour after the service, and don’t get any recognition or credit, until something goes wrong(which by the way is never our fault :) ) at which point everyone turns around in their seats and recognizes that we messed something up. We get no credit and all the blame. Very humbling, so thank your neighborhood sound man next time you get the chance. For those of you reading who attend my church don’t worry about saying “Thank you” to me; you can just write it in the ‘for’ line on your check :)
Okie dokie, just felt the need to insert a little bit of cheesiness.
Back on track: i’m the guy who knows the most about the soundboard. i have put in the most hours. i understand it the best. i can fix the problems the quickest. i have the most power financially to get the right tools. Now, it’s time to stop before i get prideful. But you get the picture, i’m better at it than anyone else.
Pay attention: There are two ways to listen to the sound. You can listen to what is directly coming out of the speakers through air which is what everyone in the service is hearing, or you can plug a set of headphones into the soundboard and listen to a different signal. Through the headphones, we have the ability to do several things. We can decide to filter out some of the signals. Like if i only wanted to hear the people singing on stage and not the guitarist, i could do that. Or i can turn up certain things in the headphones without affecting what comes out of the speakers. The point is that the headphones can sound entirely different from what’s in the service.
So, if one of the members of the congregation came to the sound board during worship, put on the headphones, started listening, then said that i had the mix all wrong, that it was way too loud, and the guitarist wasn’t coming through at all. He might think that he was entirely correct, with what might seem like a logical reason. He’s in the service, and he’s hearing that these things are wrong. But i promise you that my reply would be “No, i think the mix is great, i’ve been doing this for a long time, i’m the head of the soundboard, and i have things under control, trust me; i am right.” We all know that it would be utterly ridiculous for him to yell and throw a fit and tell me over and over i needed to change it. But this would be similar to us getting absurdly emotional with God while asking Him to do what we want Him to do. His reply is just gonna be “No, I think things are fine and the way I want them, I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’m the God of the Universe, and I have things under control, trust me; I am right.” All the man in my example(or rather the example God showed me) would have to do is, take the headphones off (which are a distorted, incomplete, and inaccurate picture of the way things really are) and he would understand that the sound was beautiful and GIVING GLORY TO GOD.
Too often, we have our headphones on, and the mix is distorted, incomplete, and inaccurate because of our sin. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, all contribute to the distorted sound. But God, steadfast, true, holy, all powerful, and all knowing, in a word, Love, knows what is best. Instead of focusing our energy on getting emotional and asking Him to give us what we want, we should focus on asking Him to help us take our headphones off. Then we will have beautiful music in our ears, while living a life the GIVES GLORY TO GOD.
One more thought, if the emotional man listening to the headphones tried to turn a knob or move a slider regardless of my telling him everything was fine. Then the first time, he would get a slap on the hand, second time, a strong rebuke, and third time, i’d ask him to leave. Sounds pretty mean or strict but it is what is necessary, to keep the sound running smoothly, so that the everyone else’s worship to God isn’t disturbed. Why should one man due to his arrogance be able to ruin everyone else’s ability to get close to God?
Be careful, the Word says that God chastizes us as a father might for disobidience. If we keep our headphones on too long, try to control things too much, and step outside our boundaries, God will readily slap our hand, give us a strong rebuke, or ask us to leave. He doesn’t play around with people who cause others to stumble because they want it their way. The Word also says that there is a very harsh and severe punishment for those who teach false doctrine, so harsh that it would be better for him to have a very heavy stone tied to his neck and cast into the sea. God is serious about His people, His love for them, and their growth. Don’t get in the way or the price will be great.