Have you ever felt discouraged in your apparent feeble efforts to serve the Lord? When you regard others who seem to be more generously endowed with abilities and talents, have you felt that you have been short-changed? Perhaps you need to examine yourself in the light of scriptural counsel. We are not all given the same abilities nor even equal amounts, but we all have unique qualities to play our part in the Lord's plan. In I Corinthians it is revealed that we are a part of the body of Christ, performing our functions according to the abilities given to us. Also the parable of the talents in Matthew reveals that we are responsible for the use of the talents that we have been given, according to our several abilities to use them. It is also revealed that there will come a time when we will be called to account as to how we have used, misused, or neglected to develop those talents.
We are engaged in a great cosmic drama, and we all have our various parts to play. These parts have been assigned to us by the Director to fit each of our personalities and abilities, and there is no provision for stand-ins. We must make our entrances and exits on schedule and we must know our lines. On occasion we may forget, in which case we have a Prompter with a still, small voice who whispers in our ear, "This is the way, walk ye in it."
The story is told of a famous conductor who was conducting the rehearsal of a large symphony orchestra and chorus. The music reached a dramatic climax with the chorus in full voice, the trumpets blaring, the strings singing, the woodwinds tootling, and the drums booming. The piccolo player felt that his part was useless, that he would never be heard above the din, so why play at all? So he kept quiet; he pretended to play, but there was no breath to produce a sound. Suddenly, without warning, the conductor rapped on the stand and motioned for them to stop playing. All the instruments ceased and there was dead silence. No one knew what was wrong except the director and he shouted, "Where's the piccolo"? He missed the piercing sound of that one instrument that was so important for the proper performance of the music.
So it is with us; no matter how insignificant we might consider our part, that part is essential to the body, to complete the great plan, the great play, the great performance. We cannot allow ourselves to be discouraged, nor distracted, nor tempted to not play; for if we fail to play, someday the Master Director will cry, "Where's the piccolo"?
