Twenty-one-year-old Jerry Landis had a problem.
The aspiring singer/songwriter had tasted success as a 16-year-old when one of his songs became a minor hit, but since then he could not come up with anything that anyone wanted to hear. Worse than that, he never really got credit for the success he did have, because Jerry Landis was not even his real name. It was the name the record company liked.
Then, one night in 1963, Landis climbed the stairs to the second floor of his parent’s home, grabbed his guitar, went into the washroom, and sat on the floor. He liked to play in the washroom because the tiles in the room made the guitar, and his voice, echo.
With the light off, he played a few chords and then began to sing, “Hello darkness my old friend. I have come to talk with you again.” In that moment, Paul Simon’s life changed forever.
I love the idea that any given day, any moment, can alter the course of one’s life. When Simon picked up his guitar that day, he had no idea that he was on the verge of writing one of the most popular and well-known songs of his era, but that is how life works. You never know what is just around the next corner.
Biblically, we see the same truth play out as well. Abraham had no idea that one day God was going to speak to him and tell him to leave his homeland (Genesis 12). Moses’ day as a shepherd started like any other until he encountered the burning bush and God’s instructions to go get his people from Egypt (Exodus 3). James and John were preparing for another day of fishing with their father when Jesus came along and said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4).
I do not know what you are up against today, but I do know this: everything can change in an instant.
Keep hoping. Keep dreaming. Be faithful. Persevere. Your biggest blessing may be just about to show up.
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
