When my junior-high band director wanted us to practice a difficult passage to proficiency, he would tell us to “woodshed it.”  We students, from a slightly less-ancient era, had no idea what that meant, so he explained how, in his day, a kid who needed to be disciplined would be taken out to the woodshed to feel the sting of a stick until the lesson had been learned.  In our case, we were to carefully play the tricky measures over and over on our own until we could do it properly, and then we would be ready to play the whole piece together.

I feel like God has me in the woodshed.  Not in any brutal 2×4 kind of way, but in that sense of focusing on what I haven’t gotten right yet, over and over, until it will become second nature.  He’s telling me, “My dear child, you are not ready to play this piece in concert.  If I let you up on that stage, you’re gonna hit some notes that will make the listeners cringe and spoil my song.  You need to be in here, learning this lesson over and over, practicing until your fingers do not stray to those wrong notes.  For now, I have you teaching Music Appreciation in here, because you know the joy of My Music, and you can share that wonder with others.  Do not think that is any less – or more – important than being on that stage.”

I am learning peace and patience in this practice.  Previously, I whined about where I want to be; now I am gratefully soaking in all God has for me here and now.  In fact, as I do my part in the woodshed, it’s starting to sound better in here!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.  I Corinthians 9:24-27