Famed American composer/pianist George Gershwin was standing on a crowded beach talking to a friend. The waves were crashing into the shoreline. Other people were engaged in conversations. A nearby merry-go-round was operating in full volume. Venders were trying to drum up business by shouting out the praises of their products. It all made for quite a noisy scene.

Gershwin, who was a man who understood sound, music, and symphony far better than most, paused to listen to it all for a moment and said to his friend, “All of this could form such a beautiful pattern of sound. It could turn into a magnificent musical piece expressive of every human activity and feeling with pauses, counterpoints, blends, and climaxes of sound that would be beautiful. But it is not that. It is all discordant, terrible, and exhausting — as we hear it now. The pattern is always shattered.”

Gershwin had it right. The sounds of life don’t naturally align themselves into beautiful music, do they? To the contrary, they exhaust us and make us long for quiet peace and tranquility. Rather than symphony, we get stress.

It is only by you placing saving belief in Jesus Christ and bringing every corner of your life under His Lorship that all your noise can become God’s symphony. Psalm 23 and John 10:11-15 explain that Jesus becomes the Christian’s life shepherd. Psalm 37:23 tells us the Christian’s steps are ordered by the Lord. Romans 8:28 promises us that all things, even bad occurrences, work together for good for the Christian who loves God.

What these passages are trying to get us to understand is that Jesus brings a divine order to the Christian’s life. High notes. Low notes. Flat keys. Sharp keys. Sweeping movements. Subtle movements. Fast beats. Slow beats. Core sections. Transitional sections. Majors. Minors. Ensemble parts. Solo parts. Jesus can orchestrate it all into a rhythm and harmony that makes for a beautiful symphony that runs the gamut of all aspects of life. Without Him as your Maestro Conductor, though, life is just noise to you, noise with no order, direction, flow, or purpose. And that’s no way to live.

So tell me, when you stop and listen to your life these days, can you hear God’s music in it? Can you hear what He is doing in your life? Can you hear where He is taking you? Can you hear how He wants to use you? If you can’t, then I advise you to pray a simple prayer. I offer it in closing:

Jesus, right now I give myself completely to you. Take me wherever you want to take me and let me experience every ounce of the scenery along the way. Your will is now my will. Do with my life as You see fit. You be the Shepherd and I’ll be the sheep. You supply the leadership and I’ll supply the followship. Take the podium as my Maestro Conductor and organize this mess I call a life into a beautiful, harmonious symphony. I’m tired of just hearing noise. Help me hear the music.