“When the Lord closes a door, He opens a window.” –Author Unknown
In 1970, I was high school junior in northern California. I was privileged to be invited to be a member of an elite drama group from our high school. But in order to join, I had to resign from the elite choir, which I had been in for the past two years. I was asked on Friday, and was told I had the weekend to decide.
It wasn’t an easy decision for me. I loved drama, having participated in several plays and skits during the year. And, from my perspective, I was pretty good. But I also loved music. To switch from music to drama would not only affect my activities for my senior year, it would change my circle of friends. I deliberated over it all weekend, and in the end decided to remain in choir.
I grew up believing that decisions like that have a long-lasting affect on our lives. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, I think it did. I committed myself to music, and eventually started writing music. Most of those who studied drama ended up going to the same college in southern California. I went to a college in northern California with a friend from choir, where I ended up meeting my future wife. I spent a lot of time in music in the years and decades to come, and never regretted it. Even now, when I have put the guitar down and stopped singing publicly, I am proud of what I did and look back fondly on those years.
We all have decisions to make in our lives. And in the end, they define who we are. But that doesn’t mean there is only one right decision. In the end, there are only three major decisions we have to make:
1. Will I follow God?
2. Who will I marry?
3. What livelihood will I pursue?
And in this day and age, only decisions one and two are really that important. People today often change their careers several times during their years before retirement. And today, even retirement is simply a change in careers. Whom you marry should be a lifelong decision, and of course, the decision to follow God should be made early and kept until our eyes close in death–and even after.
So what’s the point of this blog? The point is, whatever we choose, wherever we are in life, we can choose to follow God and speak out in His behalf. And that’s what’s important. It’s not how we do it; it’s simply a matter of doing it. I enjoyed my years in music, and during that time I sang and wrote music that praised God. Now I praise God in a different way. God gave me a gift of music, and I used it when I was at that stage of my life. I have had several people who knew me during my singing years tell me that I HAD to get back to singing. But that’s not me anymore. I have made a commitment to writing, and for now, that’s who I am.
So don’t be afraid to change paths, step out doors, or climb out windows. In the end, God really doesn’t care what you do, or how you choose to do it. What matters is that you do it for Him.
The Great Adventure 