Music Monday: “The Prodigal” by Josiah Queen
By: Debbie Waltz
I attended a writer’s conference at the beginning of August; from what I shared, you can probably tell I was exhausted and overwhelmed based on the tone of my last “Music Monday” piece. And much as I enjoy writing and it can be cathartic sometimes, it can be a business to break into- especially if you plan on making this your future career. That being said, our last summer vacation couldn’t have come at a better time.
As many of you know, I’ve been struggling to write the conclusion of my book for a while now. Although using voice recognition is part of the problem, that’s not the only issue I am finding. Yes, dictating by voice can be a very tedious and time-consuming process- rereading words over and over to find the ones the computer misinterpreted and correcting them. But my mom thinks it’s more than that; she thinks it’s because I’m afraid of failing. In a way, she’s right, but only partially. You see, I’d written parts of the manuscript in my youth and at the start of my faith walk; as such, the project has grown and developed with me as I’ve honed my writing craft. Not only does the book spotlight the struggles of living with a disability, but it also highlights the ups and downs of living a life of faith.
In the beginning, it was quite easy to put words onto the page. Sure, I could put bits and pieces of myself and my circumstances into the story, but I could feel God moving, using my creativity to mold a story and plot. As I’ve gotten older, though, I find it more difficult to know and hear God’s voice.
There is so much fighting for our attention these days. We have so much to do-bills to pay, children to care for, and houses to maintain. It would be so easy to lose ourselves in the daily grind. We can’t, though. As children of God, it’s important to remember why we were created in the first place. Though we act as messengers in this very broken world, bringing the Good News of the gospel to those in need, that’s not our primary goal. It’s bringing glory to God in whatever we say and do. As a popular verse in 1st Corinthians states: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (10:31 NIV). But what about some of the lesser-known verses like Psalms 115:1 which says, Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be all the glory because of your love and faithfulness.”
That’s why it’s so important that we slow down and take some time to focus on our relationship with God. Whether at the beach or simply in her quiet time, we must train ourselves to listen to God’s voice. I say train because whether or not we know it, that’s what we’re in. It’s not the physical ones that concern me (although things are getting pretty bad in Israel if you ask me), as much as the spiritual battles concern me. Even as a Christian, I find myself believing the lie that I don’t need God for everything. That he’s just there for the big stuff. But that’s not true. He’s in EVERYTHING because he created everything
Believe it or not, this got me thinking of the parable of the Good Shepherd. During this parable, he is trying to impart some pieces of wisdom to his disciples. But like sheep, they do not understand. They can’t comprehend the long-term goal of this short-term mission- never believing in just a few years what Jesus will have to do to redeem His Children.
They don’t realize the importance of his words in the moment, but when they look back, they know he was teaching them something important
Which is what exactly?
- The importance of an intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
- Listen carefully for His voice among all the noise (John 10:3-5, 14- 18)
- Obedience and discernment (John 10:5)
One of the keynote speakers reminded us we are all works in progress that won’t be completed until we see Jesus face-to-face. This time on earth is just molding us to become more like him as we near our journey’s end. As 2nd Peter 3: 14- 16 reminds us, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
To listen to Josiah Queen’s “The Prodigal”, it can be accessed here: