Distance Tuning

By Robin Steinweg –

“It’s still flat. Keep tightening it. Too low, keep going, getting better, almost there—there! Nope, you over-shot it. Loosen it a little, just a twadge. Oops. It’s okay, just tighten it a hair. Good! Now the next one.” It goes like that for all six guitar strings. I encourage new students who don’t know how to tune their instruments to call me and we’ll tune it over the phone instead of trying to find a mutually workable time when their parents can bring it here for me to tune. My family has gotten used to it, but when I’ve had someone visiting during one of these calls, I get some pretty strange looks. They only hear my running instructions. When they discover what I’m doing, they ask things like, “How can you do that over the phone? It seems hard. Is it really necessary?”

“At least it’s not a twelve-string,” I say, “and at least they know when it’s out. There can’t be any music till it’s in tune. There’s distance learning; why not distance tuning?”

Out-of-tune instruments must be tuned before the song is pleasant to others. Sometimes my life strikes a bad chord and needs a spiritual tune-up. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be done from a distance. The Spirit of God is as near as my heartbeat. Even if my “ear” is off, He convicts me (and if I’m wise, I agree with Him and confess the problem). That creates a clear connection between us. Next He helps me tweak the flat or sharp bits by having me listen to the perfect pitch of His Word. In prayer—not only me talking, but me listening to Him—He communicates to me His guidance, encouragement, correction, and love.

AUTHOR QUOTE: Since God is the life-song we sing, let’s keep in tune with Him.

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17 KJV).

Today’s devotion is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!