Perfect Melody

In music, there is always a little dissonance.

It's those couple of notes that just sound unhappy, and bring tension to an otherwise soothing song. Some of the most beautiful music ever composed is filled with dissonance, and could never be written without it. If you ask composers why music needs moments when a harmony is simply unpleasant to the ear, they will tell you it's there so it can resolve. A chord that is wondrous and emotionally uplifting to hear could barely offer such an experience unless it is lifting you up out of the dissonance before it. It becomes that much more worthwhile.

In life, there is always a little dissonance.

We can all agree with that. Every time we encounter those unhappy and tense moments in life, it becomes so much harder to see God's plan for it all. Why did I have to fall? Why did I have to say that? Why did my wallet happen to get stolen? What sort of spiritual good is to be brought about by it all?

Let's take the most perfect song, the most perfect melody, ever to grace the earth: Jesus' life. Imagine He had a full orchestral score going behind him the whole time, what would it sound like? Just think of all the dissonance that would pound in your ears with every step He took as He carried the cross, and just think how marvelous the chord would sound when He came out of the tomb. I tell you that chord would not sound nearly as sweet as it does if there had not been all that dissonance.

Now image the melody that makes up your life. Yes, you get your own personal theme song. For every dissonant point where we stumble, doubt, cry out, cave in, break down, and get torn up, God, our great composer, will resolve it. When the pain passes by and the soothing melodies of His blessings flow through, we appreciate it that much more. Better still, we are promised a finale that will be beyond anything we can imagine. An eternal chord of grandeur that cannot fade.

In Christ,

Just another Jesus Freak