When I teach acting students, I refer to them as instruments. We all possess the skills to accomplish things we never thought possible. An actor requires many tools to do their craft. First and foremost is the brain. We must be able to assimilate our character, memorize lines, stay focused, solve problems and create a believable person from the written page.
We also use our senses to stir a memory which enhances the character. Our voices tell the story. Use of dialect or annunciation, diction and projection all come into play. The rest of the body is also part of our instrument. How the character moves – what they wear – the time period in which they live – their age all have a bearing on creating an actual person.
Not all of us are actors, but I think this lesson is applicable to each of us. God made each of us uniquely individual. There are no two people in the world who have precisely the same DNA. We are all subject to our environment, to those we interact with, how we live and what we believe.
We’re not merely actors on a stage, but breathing, thinking, human beings with minds of our own. God gave us the freedom to be who we choose to be. Each one of us has a purpose in the plan He laid out for us. He will often use some of the most ordinary people to do His will.
Moses was a poor Israelite baby, set in the water of the Nile by his sister to protect him from death. He was adopted by a princess – learned the art of war – became a scholar, a prince and a murderer. He fled to the desert to escape and God used Moses to deliver an entire race from bondage.
David was a young shepherd boy when he was anointed the next King. He went on to kill a lion, faced danger every day to protect his sheep, slew a giant and became a great warrior. He also was a human being with worldly desires. He desired Bathsheba, took her as his own, had her husband killed and fathered her child. When the child died, he confessed his sin and repented.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was just a young woman when she was told by an angel that she would bear a son. The child would be the Son of God. In faith, she followed God’s plan for her life. She would go through a normal pregnancy, deliver a normal little boy, watch him grow into a normal man, but He was anything but normal. Even though she had no voice in the matter, Mary followed God’s lead in faith, as she watched her Son suffer on the cross for the sins of the entire world and witnessed His resurrection and ascension into heaven.
You may think that you don’t have the skills to talk to others about what you believe. Maybe you don’t feel smart enough, rich enough or talented enough to be an instrument for God’s kingdom. The truth is we are all part of a great plan, which God instituted at the beginning. He knows what we’re capable of more than we do and He will help us realize our potential. Thank Him for His presence in your life and trust that He will use you as His instrument.
