“Musicians don’t retire. They stop when there’s no more music in them.” Louis Armstrong

Earlier this year I thought maybe God was trying to tell me I was finished with the writing/speaking thing. Then through a number of ways He showed me, no, He was not. The above quote is one of those ways. In the movie The Intern, Robert DeNiro’s character, Ben Whitaker, uses Louis Armstrong’s quote in his video cover letter/application to be a senior citizen intern for an up-and-coming online women’s clothing company. Ben follows the quote with, “I still have music in me, absolutely positive about that!”* After he said that line I thought, “Me too! I still have music in me.”

Yesterday in church was one more affirmation from God that He still wants me to play the music He put in me. The pastor referred to John 17:4. This verse is part of a prayer Jesus prayed for Himself, the disciples, and then future believers right before His crucifixion. In that prayer Jesus said, “I glorified You on earth by completing the work You gave me to do.” Jesus glorified God by doing the work God gave Him to do. If I stop doing what God put in me to do, I will not glorify God. My life will fall short of what God planned for me because I stopped playing the music before there was no more in me.

No, sir! Not me! I don’t know what God has ahead for me. But I do know that I will be writing and speaking all the ideas He gives me until there are no more, regardless of the results.

Another thought from yesterday’s sermon**–Daniel 1 begins the story of Daniel and three of his friends taken into captivity when the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem. The Babylonians try to assimilate Daniel and his friends into their culture. One way they try to do this is by feeding them the rich food and wine from the king. Daniel and his friends said, “No thanks. We’ll have vegetables and water only.” They did not want to disobey the dietary guidelines God had given the Israelites in the Mosiac Law. The chief of staff in charge of these young men was afraid they would look “pale and thin” and he would be in trouble.

Daniel wisely offered a solution, “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; deal with us in light of what you see” (Daniel 1:12-13). In verses 14 and 15 they are tested for ten days and they ended up looking better and being healthier than the young men who had eaten the rich food. They were allowed to continue with foods that did not violate their faith. Our pastor made the point, “Can we obey God, let Him rule in our lives and see what happens? They obeyed God for ten days and God did the rest. The point of the story is trusting God.”

That’s where I am now—obeying God, letting God rule in my life, and seeing what happens. I will faithfully meet Him at my computer and write what He puts in my heart. I will share it with you. We’ll see what God does next.

In three weeks I will turn 57. Yikes! So close to 60! But 57 is only a number. It does not and cannot dictate the quality of my future life. It does drive me to make the most of my remaining days since I have most likely passed the halfway point of my life.

You know how crazy I am about my family. So it’s tempting for me to say, “Okay, I’ve done the writing thing. Things are slowing down so I’ll give all my attention to my family.” But I know God has plans for me in addition to my family.

I have two goals in my life:

• Know and love God, being and doing all He put in me, and share that with other women. AND. . .
• Love my family well—encouraging, building them up, helping them to be all God intended them to be.

Fifty-seven is just a number. No slowing down for me.

What about you? If you’re still breathing, there’s music in you. How are you expressing it? What are you doing with it?

I recommend two books to help you discover the music God put in you and what to do next. Either or both will be inspiring and challenging.

The first is Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth.

The second is Princess Unaware: Finding the Fabulous in Every Day by Brenda Garrison. Princess Unaware has four days of Bible study in each chapter. It is great for individual or group study.

God has music in you. Will you play it or ignore it?

I would love to hear about the music God has in you or about your journey in discovering it.
*IMDB, Accessed June 20, 2016. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

**Pastor Bill White, Great Oaks Community Church (http://www.greatoakscc.org/).

*Image courtesy of Nenetus at Freedigitalphotos.net.

 

 

 

Brenda Garrison is an author and speaker who empowers women with the confidence to live their calling. Brenda is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ministry Leadership with a Concentration in Women’s Ministry at Moody Bible Institute. She and her husband, Gene, are the parents of three young adult daughters and live near Metamora, IL.