On Shuffle Mode

A couple of weeks ago, I started putting my iPod on shuffle. I really have never been a big fan of the shuffle mode. I’d much rather pick an artist and listen to an album, or make a playlist of my favorites and listen to them. But, the other day, I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to listen to, so I put it in shuffle mode.

As I’ve listened to music the past couple of weeks, shuffle mode has reintroduced me to some of my all-time favorite songs. It’s really been quite nice. I’ll be sitting there and all of a sudden some old-school Switchfoot or dc Talk will come on, taking me back several years. Or, lo and behold, Michael W. Smith will come on from his “Live the Life” album from 1998. It’s pretty awesome.

But with the good songs also come some absolute duds. I’ll be jamming out to one of my favorite songs one moment, and then it’s followed up by the worst song on an album that I never really liked in the first place. That’s a frustrating feeling, and it’s probably why I never really put my iPod on shuffle mode in the first place.

There’s kind of an anticipation that comes with shuffle mode. You don’t really know what to expect. I’ve got over 3000 songs in my music library, so any of them could pop up and surprise me. I just have to wait and see.

Life is the same way. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold. As much as we’d like to make a “playlist” for our life, planning things out and putting all our ducks in a row just the way that we like them, we just can’t do it. Life doesn’t work like that.

I’m reminded of the James’ words in James 4, when he tells his readers that they don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so why plan everything out for the next 10 years? Instead, we should trust in the Lord to direct our steps. Just like a computer chip controls what song comes up next on my iPod, God functions as the controlling authority on what happens in our lives. It is his will that matters—not ours.

I think I’m going to keep my iPod on shuffle for awhile and just see what happens. I’ll take the good and the bad. Who knows? Maybe some of the songs I used to hate will actually grow on me now. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

And when it comes to life, I’ve got to do the same thing. I’ll take the good times and the bad times, trusting that God is in control of them all and that he has a purpose for my life.

I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store.