Stepping Back

Stepping Back

May we shout for joy when we hear of your victoryand raise a victory banner in the name of our God.

Psalm 20:5

A few years ago our choir decided to put on a community variety show. We rented a popular old theater called the Grapevine Opry house and were blessed to sell a lot of tickets. Funds from the show went to pay for our upcoming mission trip.

Everything went well until the last big production number from Grease. We were all decked out in poodle skirts, bobby socks, penny loafers, and high school letter jackets, singing shooby-doos and doo-wops. Some of us were on the flat stage, while others were on raised platforms.

Toward the end of the song, the choreography called for the entire choir to doo-wop toward the back of the stage, then run back toward the front, ending with a big finale on our knees with hands raised in the air. It was fun to do, but it was a little tricky because the old Opry house stage was not very big.

As we began stepping backward to the rear curtain, we heard a big kathump. But in true performance style, we kept on singing and dancing. However, most of us noticed that one of our altos, Kathy, was missing. The soprano next to Kathy had a stricken expression on her face and kept glancing back and down. Kathy had stepped back too far and had fallen backward off the platform!

Just as we hit the last two notes of the song, Kathy rose up from the back of the stage, albeit a little disheveled, ran to her place for the finale, and completed the song on her knees with hands raised in the air. Of course, at that point we weren’t sure whether she was raising her hands in victory or surrender!

Father, as Revelation declares, we know we will have the victory over Satan when the grand finale of the world arrives, and we raise our hands in praise to you for that victory. Amen.