Once there was a tuba player in a philharmonic orchestra who got a night off because he had a tooth pulled. He decided to go to the concert anyway and sit in the audience for a change. He took his seat in the front row of the balcony where he could see and hear everything and he was thrilled with what he heard. After the concert he ran backstage to his friends and shouted, “You know what? The symphony doesn’t go ‘oompah, oompah, oompah,’ at all!”
Like the tuba player, when you set aside time for worship and prayer – it’s not so much that you’re escaping the world, as it is retreating to a better vantage point – a place where you can get a better perspective.
As you begin back to school, sports, church activities and all of the other busyness that fills your lives at this time of year – I encourage you to take the time to stop “doing” for just a few moments, and just “be” in the presence of God. Trust God – with your life, with your family and with your world, and I promise you will discover that God holds you in the palm of his hand.