Playing an instrument in a band can be wonderful, exhilarating, intimidating and stretching. Every musician has their own part in order to support their instrumental section. The woodwind section consisting of the flutes and reed instruments plays a large part in a band. The percussion section, of course, are usually the loudest instruments heard, due to the fact that they are largely responsible to keep the beat or the tempo of the song. And finally, there is the brass section, in which I played the baritone horn in high school. It was quite the adventure getting into that band! I had played the piano since the age of four, but I had never seen them actually wheel a piano around on a flatbed during the high school football halftime show! So therefore I needed to learn another instrument that I could play in the high school band. I consulted my very talented cousin Carol. She played everything! She taught me to play the baritone horn, which in fact has the same fingering as the trumpet, so I learned two instruments while only learning one!! I loved it! Due to Carol’s gift for teaching, I was able to go ahead and make first chair baritone! Whoo Hoo!!
I was recently thinking about the trumpet, and it reminded me of the incredible book in the Bible called Nehemiah. It’s about a Jewish man named Nehemiah who was called by God to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah gathered workers together in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whoever felt that God Himself was leading them to help in the massive project joined him. In groups, they all focused on specific areas of the wall, so they were very spread out. The wall was huge, so the distance between the workers created a vulnerability. The officials of the territory were not in favor of God’s people accomplishing the project, so they would frequently interfere with any type of distraction possible. Other times there would be other trouble that would ensue. Here is what the passage from Nehemiah says:
13-14 So I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and assigned people by families with their swords, lances, and bows. After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: “Don’t be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
15-18 Our enemies learned that we knew all about their plan and that God had frustrated it. And we went back to the wall and went to work. From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows, and mail armor. Military officers served as backup for everyone in Judah who was at work rebuilding the wall. The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each of the builders had a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpeter at my side to sound the alert.
19-20 Then I spoke to the nobles and officials and everyone else: “There’s a lot of work going on and we are spread out all along the wall, separated from each other. When you hear the trumpet call, join us there; our God will fight for us.”
This passage points to something that I highly value: we need each other in order to accomplish the purposes to which God has called us. What has become a normal part of my life is this. I have put together, what I call, a Prayer Team. I find when I go through everyday life, I frequently come upon situations that cause me to feel very vulnerable. Whether it be a medical situation surrounding labs, a procedure or new condition. Or, it may be a family crisis where I am desperate for God’s deliverance. I BLOW MY TRUMPET!!!!!! Just like they did on the wall of Jerusalem. My “trumpet” is an email, informing my team of the details of what is going on, what I need them to pray for and thanking them for supporting me. I know that God hears the prayers of the saints. The Bible says :
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
My challenge for you is this. Do you have a Prayer Team of people that you KNOW will be consistently praying for you? Are you willing to SOUND YOUR TRUMPET and ask for help, or are you trying to live in a form of isolation and not bother anyone with your problems? I would encourage you to look at the book of Nehemiah and decide for yourself. Maybe it’s time for you to form a prayer team and learn to play the “trumpet” too!
Blessings Friends,
Lois Robinson
