Monday January 17, 2011
Theme: Rethink: Faith and Doubt
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Hosanna (Praise is Rising) - Brenton Brown, Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin, From the Inside Out - Hillsong, Lead Me to the Cross - Hillsong
Read: Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 11
Think: Beethoven was a renowned composer of the 19th century, both popular in his time, and after. He is considered to be one of the best, up there with Mozart, Handel and Bach. Gifted from a young age and self-disciplined to the nearest point of perfection possible, Beethoven changed the way the music of the western world was written forever. By his early thirties, the time that should have been his most energized and productive stage of life, however, he was stone cold deaf. Grieved and ashamed of his disability, he became a social outcast, afraid that his music would not be accepted if people knew the truth about his condition. In an early journal entry, he wrote, “…little was lacking to make me put an end to my life. Only art held me back, ah it seemed to me impossible to leave the world before I had brought forth all that I felt destined to bring forth.”
Without the ability to hear a single note he wrote, he continued to compose. With no guarantee of success, or even the ability to judge by sound, he wrote and wrote and wrote. Indeed, he wrote more during the next ten years than he’d written previously. The works he completed in the months and years after writing these lamentations broke new ground in the world of music. It is widely accepted that Beethoven altered the course of Western music with his individualism, freedom of expression, and the way he turned musical methodology on its head. He bent and sometimes broke the former rules, as if the constraints of his hearing were lifted and he was able to produce from the heart. Perhaps he would say, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not hear.” (Hebrews 11:1 reads, “what we do not see.”)
Hebrews 11 is filled with men and women with similar stories who pressed on with their God-given endeavors through trials and temptations, with no guarantee of success. Their only assurance was what they believed- that God exists, that he is good, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Do: Name those things that are particularly challenging for you. Name what God has put in your heart to do, and then commit to seeing it through.
Pray: God, you know the challenges that I face, and the weaknesses I possess. I trust you to lead me and guide me. I will focus on your goodness toward me instead of my doubts.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.