Accompanied by the Master - Repost

I read the story this morning of a mother who took her young child to a concert.  Upon finding their seats, the mother was overjoyed to recognize a friend and soon became lost in conversation.  As the lights went down, signaling that the concert was about to begin, the mother realized that her child was no longer in his seat.  In the darkness, a simple piano tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was heard throughout the building.

The spotlight illuminated the stage, and much to the mother's embarrassment, her child was sitting at the grand piano, pecking out the simple tune.  What the child didn't know is that the star of the evening, the pianist for whom the concert was building held, was approaching him from behind.  The musician slipped onto the bench beside the young child and whispered in his ear to continue playing.  The child happily obeyed and repeated his simple piece.  However, the tune sounded nothing like it had before, for as he played, the master musician accompanied him.  The notes were sweet, and the melody flowed.  What had begun as a child's meager melody had turned into a musical masterpiece.

Isn't that what God does with us?  He takes our meager attempts and turns them into miracles.  In and of ourselves, we can do nothing, but that doesn't usually stop us from trying.  Even our efforts to serve Him are lacking in strength, devotion or skill.  Yet, God uses us to perform a masterpiece.  He turns our meager melodies into musical delights.  He transforms our words into blessings.  He takes the simplest of the simple and turns it into something indescribable.  And just like the master musician in the story above, He urges us to keep playing.

The musician could have been angry or offended at the child's nonsense.  But instead, he encouraged the giver to keep on giving, even if his offering was paltry.  God, too, encourages us to keep on serving, even if it seems our efforts are in vain or our services are of no consequence.  Does God need us to work for Him?  No, but He allows us to, and our response should be the same as the little child at the concert--unreserved joy at the privilege to play alongside the Master.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. - Philippians 2:13