Songs In The Night
"Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?" - Job (Job 35:10,
NIV)
Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the world's greatest musicians, was born
into a musical family in Germany. As a child he spent many lonely hours
practicing his music every day.
By the age of eleven he was already composing his own music and conducting
an orchestra. In his late teens he went to Vienna for further study. There
he reached fame though not fortune.
One evening as he was out walking he passed a cobbler's house where
he heard someone inside practicing one of his compositions. As he stopped
to listen he overheard a girl say that she wished she could hear a real
musician play it properly.
Beethoven went into the house and, noticing the young lady at the piano
was blind, offered to play the piece for her. He did so for her for more
than an hour and while he did, darkness fell and the lone candle in the
room had gone out.
Outside in the night sky the moon shone brightly and sent its radiant
beams glistening into the room where Beethoven sat playing beautiful music.
He was so inspired by the appreciation of his music by the young lady and
the beauty of the atmosphere in the room that he composed his famous "Moonlight
Sonata."
Do you ever feel that your dreams have been shattered and you feel all
alone in the darkness of despair? I certainly have. However, when our life
is committed to Christ, it's in these "dark nights of the soul" when God
is working in us to give us more understanding of life and compassion for
others and in time will bring back the music into our life.