A Marching Band

Proverbs 30:27 "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands."

I have been introduced to the world of "marching bands" through my 16 year old grandson. He has definitely found his niche in  high school by his participation in the band. He loves the challenge it is providing in every way.

I'm a big fan of band music but admittedly, I didn't know all the intricacies involved in marching in a band. I have always been impressed with a performance,  but never realized the time devoted to the practice and memorization needed for the perfect presentation.

Neither did I realize that there is a theme to the marching.There has to be numerous performances,  all incomplete,  building towards that grand final presentation. If you see one of those incomplete performances (which is what I catch each fall season), it doesn't always make sense. Yet I can tell the band is working towards the beauty of when it all comes together in the future.

A band participant needs to attend band camp and spend evenings of many weeks practicing. An incredible amount of time is invested in this endeavor. I hear my grandson humming his band music most all of the time.. he's totally committed to being a successful part of his band.

This year, I was privileged to hear his first performance. He is glad to get through it so he can work on improvement.  He's pleased that he has this first opportunity for his band teacher to critique it. He feels pretty nervous about it all.  But by that final one, he's feeling confident because he knows how hard he and his teammates have worked. And they always do a grand job! It is a magnificent accomplishment!

The scripture referral today is about locusts.  In truth, they aren't well liked because they do destructive work but the success of what they do is because they work together as a band. I am impressed at the major job they get accomplished as they work together. Apparently they don't have any leader but they are simply driven by the need to be nourished. They will travel together cross country to complete their mission.

God put us here on this earth to work in units. We can accomplish things singly,  but there is scripture about "one chasing a thousand and two ten thousand."  So much more can be done as a team and when we have a common goal.

We don't have to all play the same instrument to march together. What I love about a marching band is the beautiful sound coming from the varied instruments.  The important thing is that each member play their instrument perfectly in time with the music, in feeling with the theme and in sinc with the marching pattern.To observe a band marching and playing in harmony below on a field is overwhelming!

When my grandson started band, I thought he might be confused with what could be chaos in maneuvering people on the field and trying to blend with so many other instruments. But he wasn't. His concern was that he learn, as an individual, what his part was in the band. He chose his instrument and started to work. He now knows that he practices much and when he comes together with the group, who also has done much practicing, they can get the job done. I also note that he has great respect for the teacher. And I see that the uniformity of a band uniform for each participant gives a much more accomplished effect to the presentation.

It is vital that we know our gifting (our instrument) in life. It is also important that we totally respect God's orchestration in our lives.  We must apply ourselves to letting God make us productive as an individual and feel confident, through Him, in what we are doing. We needn't be so concerned about whether our neighbor is learning his instrument. And we need to be only concerned with the part of the march we are learning for today's presentation. Our goal is not to try to make our instrument the loudest or most noticeable. It is for all of us to march to God's will, His written uniformity in the Word, and to march together. The music is written. The Director is always ready. As we  come together,  we are viewed by the onlooking world as a beautiful presentation. The picture is so much more interesting and lovely when everyone is marching together for a common cause.  I challenge all of us to stay in the band!