Elevated Timing

Yesterday we spoke about how there are levels in life that we must go through and pass in order to reach the next one. And in God’s perfect timing, He will elevate you to that next level. I used to think that if I worked hard at being a musician and practiced nonstop, God would elevate me because of my work ethic. What I didn’t understand until I was elevated, is that God was working on my internal character so that I would be able to sustain what He was elevating me to and that had nothing to do with music.

My experience has been that my elevation had everything to do with my character developing, and with what I had to learn to cultivate when it came to being a leader of people. This had nothing to do with my talent as a pianist or a vocalist. It had more to do with me not having an ego growing where God had blessed me, and not acting as if I achieved these things on my own. If my heart and mind had the wrong disposition on this matter, there was no way I would have been able to sustain the people, places, and opportunities placed under my responsibility when He elevated me.

After being faithful with the level God gave me as a music director, I needed everything He had developed in my character during those days to handle my elevation. I didn’t fully understand this until I had to teach a band in Japan (that I didn’t choose) my entire show in only two rehearsals, just two days before a sold-out concert. This is where the patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, love, and joy that God had grown in my character played an essential role in the sessions as I taught them to play my music in their own way. This is also where faithfulness came in, as I trusted that if they played authentically their way, instead of trying to mimic my band back home through the recordings and sheet music I had sent… it would give them the confidence to be who they were with what I created, rather than trying to become a copy of my band.

This method not only worked with my band in Japan, but it also worked with two different bands in Spain, and later with a new band in America after my original group dismantled. The elevated timing was never about my talent. It was about my character and how I dealt with people, so that my hard work on my craft could be shared anywhere I was present with capable musicians. God’s elevation was character-based, not talent-based.

We’ve all witnessed time and time again someone who was extremely talented but didn’t go far because of their character. There’s something fascinating about raw talent and raw beauty, and how attractive they are. Yet no matter how appealing, if they lack character, after a while no one cares. We’re all responsible for ourselves… and that includes the development of our character… so that we don’t waste the talents we’ve been given in this lifetime.