Transform Your WorldHave you ever found yourself facing a challenging situation and feeling Nothing in my life has prepared me to deal with this? If so, I have a nickname for you. It all goes back to my college days.
During my first three years of college I had helped to lead ‘church night’ at a nearby institution for special needs children. Every Tuesday, a group of students from my university would go there and split up among several different residences. My friend Max and I would go to a residence that housed boys about six to eight years old.
Max would play the guitar and lead them in singing Sunday school songs like “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Then I would tell a Bible story using my mother’s flannelgraph board and figures. (This was before children learned Bible stories by watching singing, dancing vegetables.)
But this was the beginning of my Senior year. I had taken over leadership of the ministry, and Max had graduated. So I conducted our first church night alone. When I arrived at the residence, the boys asked, “Where’s the Guitarman?” (Emphasis on the GIT. This was the southwest, after all.)
“He graduated and won’t be coming back,” I explained. We sang the songs without the guitar accompaniment. I thought we did fine without it. But as I was leaving, a mob of little boys surrounded me, saying, “Bring the Guitarman next week. We need the Guitarman.”
So I tried to find a guitar player to accompany me on Tuesdays. My pleas went unheeded. So began a frustrating vicious circle. Every Tuesday a group of boys asking for a Guitarman. Six days of unsuccessfully trying to enlist a Guitarman. Then another Tuesday of disappointed little faces.
And one day a thought popped into my head. These kids aren’t music experts. What would happen if somebody who knew nothing about guitar playing just strummed on a guitar while the boys sang? Would anybody notice?
I decided it was worth a shot. So I borrowed a guitar from a friend and showed up at the residence. You’d have thought it was Christmas and I was Santa. “The guitar’s back!” some of the kids exclaimed.
Then, seeing that I was alone, one of the boys asked, “Where’s the Guitarman?”
“I’m the Guitarman,” I responded, feeling like a straight-faced fraud.
I told the boys to sit down and announced, “We’re going to sing ‘Deep and Wide.’” I took a deep breath, sent up a little prayer, and started strumming. Hoping that nobody would notice my little smoke and mirrors routine.
The boys sang. They clapped. They smiled big smiles. And not one of them noticed. Not during “Deep and Wide.” Not during “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock.” Not during “His Banner Over Me is Love.” Not during the whole evening. The only reaction was sheer joy. The guitar was back. And, unnoticed by them, someone with no qualifications had become a Guitarman.
For the rest of the school year I lugged the guitar back each week. When my non-guitar-playing friend Arnie joined me, he became the second Guitarman. And not once during the entire school year did any of the kids catch on to the fact that the Guitarmen couldn’t play one chord.
I think that Scripture is filled with stories of Guitarmen and Guitarwomen. People who felt inadequate and unprepared to do what a situation--or more accurately, God--required them to do. Moses at the burning bush. Joseph dealing with Mary’s pregnancy. Mary at the foot of the cross. Each dealing with events they never would have chosen. How did they do it?
The encounter with Moses makes it plain. Moses asks, “Who am I to perform the task you’ve chosen me to do?” And God responds by ignoring the question and telling Moses what he really needs to know: “I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:11-12) Apparently from God’s point of view, the issue of Moses’ identity or background or qualifications was irrelevant. The only relevant thing was God’s presence with him.
And sometimes when life throws me a curve ball and I feel inadequate to handle a situation I’ve fallen into, my mind goes back to the time I stood in front of twenty little boys holding a guitar, wondering if my feeble effort would accomplish anything. And I remind myself that God is with me, and that maybe my task is not so complicated after all. I just need to take a deep breath, and send up a prayer, and start strumming.
Have you ever found yourself in the role of a Guitarman or Guitarwoman? What insights can you share with people who are currently dealing with situations they feel unprepared to handle? Please leave a comment!