Wrong Note!

For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.

He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, He has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
– Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 3:11

If you know music at all, you know it’s all about timing! You can play the right note, but if you don’t let go at the right moment, it will quickly become the wrong note. Vice versa, if you enter before the right beat, it is now the wrong note. In essence, if you play the right note at the wrong time it is now the wrong note!

Understanding music can help you understand life!

Have you ever had a job offer made to you that seems like it would have been perfect, but you just started a degree program that may not allow you the time to pursue both? Or have you met someone who seems to have all the right qualities you are looking for, but if you had just met them 2 years earlier it would have been the prime chance to see if they were “right” for you?

These are hard questions to ask because I know that sometimes that sense of “wrong timing” may actually be an opportunity that is disguised as opposition. Some of us have the capacity to handle these multiple situations. But I am keenly aware that some opportunities can also be distractions, designed to delay you from getting to the next chapter in your life.

There may not always be clear answers to any of this. And that’s the great and scary thing about life: the choice is yours! No one can know for sure whether something is, in fact, the right note, person or opportunity.

Can we stick with the music imagery? If you play the right note at the wrong time, it creates dissonance. And dissonance creates an uneasy feeling that requires a resolution. The thing to remember is that if you know how to play your instrument well, you can maneuver the wrong notes into a sustained chord, thus making it an intriguing chord instead! And that dissonance, if you know how to resolve it well, can actually be a non-chord tone that you can resolve to a more dramatic suspension chord! It’s all about how you play it.

I’m not suggesting that you should play anything you feel like playing as long as it sounds good. I am saying that you need to practice and play the music with respect. Learn the difference between a diving opposition and a Godly opportunity wrapped in opposition. I have rarely had an opportunity that presents itself at the absolutely perfect time. But I have known that if I am contemplative and prayerful, God will lead me in the right direction.

—

David, the King of Israel, was out fighting a battle. When he returned to the camp with his soldiers, the Amalekites had snuck in, pillaged their homes and took their wives. The soldiers were devastated, crying out loud and speaking of killing David. Whenever we are in stressful moments, we look for someone to blame. And not only were they going to blame David, but they were going to stone him! David was depressed, tired, and had little strength at this point.

But he knew how to respond. He asked God, shall I go after the Amalekites? This isn’t the best time, I have no strength to fight and my men want to kill me, but we must respond! But should I go after them? And God responded to David and told him, Pursue, for you will recover all. David did go after them, and they did recover all.

There may not always be such a clear guarantee of victory, but after you have assessed the situation and prayed about it, do what is in your heart. You may have to weigh your options, but when you’ve thought it over, do something. Either decide to take the chance, or let it pass. But when you make that decision, you’ll know you gave it everything you had.

If you decide to go for it, go for it with no regret! If it is not in God’s will for your life, He’ll find a way to let you know! And if it is God’s will for you and you pass it up, have enough faith in God to know that He’ll bring it back around for you to pursue again.

In the same chapter of Ecclesiastes referenced at the top, the writer goes on to say: “whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him.”

So take comfort that when God does something, it endures forever! And His will is going to be done! But whatever you do, remember to lean not into your own understanding but trust in the Lord with all your heart and in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path!