Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life as a Drummer

[Before you read this article, don't be misled by the title, ok? It's not like one of those '10 steps to freedom' or '5 weeks to change your life' - those are silly. Keep reading and you'll see what I mean!]

You’re a drummer. You’re a Christian. Perhaps you play drums in your church. Maybe you’re in a band making a living as a musician. You could even be in a band that is evangelical, ministering or leading worship. Whatever your situation, you have a gift, a skill, a talent given to you of great worth and significance. You have the gift of rhythm. You have the ability to use your body and its members to put together beats and patterns, sounds and rhythms that surround us in everday life and let you paint soundscapes that affect body, mind and soul. Isn’t that an incredible gift?

Don’t you think you should be asking yourself: “Why do I have this gift? Why me and not Bob down the road? Is there a reason I have this ability?”

These are questions I believe every drummer should asking. Of course, if there is no ‘Bob down the road’, just change ‘Bob’ to whatever your neighbour’s name is…unless he can also play drums in which case you should use the name of one of your pets…

-> moving on and changing beats ->

I believe that if you are a Christian and a drummer, there is a purpose for you having your gift. The next step, then, is discovering that purpose, if you believe that there is indeed one in the first place!

Now, the good news and the bad news
Bad news first:
I cannot show or tell you what your purpose is. Sorry. (Kind of like Neo and Morpheus in The Matrix and that darn rabbit hole!)

Good news now:
God can!

Some other news:
I can give you some practical tips in order to get you started on your journey to discovering and fulfilling God’s purpose for your life as a drummer. (i.e. I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes… you need to know The Matrix to get any of that, if not, just move on.)

how close you walk with God on that journey will determine how much you are realising and fulfilling your purpose, His will in your life.

“So what you are you waiting for? Tell me now!” I hear you oh-so-politely ask. Well, before I get on to the practical stuff, you need to realise that there is no magic formula. It’s not 1-2-3 and then *poof* there are all the answers and your purpose discovered and fulfilled. It’s a journey you are on and how close you walk with God on that journey will determine how much you are realising and fulfilling your purpose, His will in your life.

So before we look at the good ol’ practical stuff, I hope I have made you aware that your relationship with God is the very first and most important thing to look at.

Ok, now the practical!

• Use your drums wherever you are.
  - Make use of any and every opportunity to play with others, whether it be in the street, after church, at home etc.
• If your church has an outreach somewhere, see if you can take your percussion along
  - Playing in public not only draws a crowd but you are also using your gift outside of the church-on-Sunday context
• If you are not in a worship team in your church, try to get involved if you can
  - Understanding the team dynamic in the context of worship is good for developing character, attitude and skill
• Play a djembe or frame drum while reading the Psalms
  - Now as weird as that may sound, it’s actually pretty cool. See if you can put a rhythm to a Psalm!
• Pray
  - Ask God to reveal to you His plans and purpose for your life as you spend more time with Him

Be still

Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” For a drummer to be still is a highly challenging task! If you’re anything like me, even if your body is not moving, you probably still have rhythms bouncing around inside your head the whole time! But it’s interesting to note that the word for ‘know’ in that verse is translated from ‘yada’ which means ‘to have knowledge of’, ‘to understand’.
This links in with what I wrote earlier - your relationship with God is the key to discovering and fulfilling your purpose as a drummer in Him.

It’s almost as if God wants you to put your sticks down, stop tapping your feet and nodding your head. In the quiet, in the stillness…get to know Him there. It’s from that starting block that your journey begins. Your drumming and its purpose is the by-product of the stillness.

Enjoy the journey, the destination is out of this world!