n Have you every been driving and found yourself off course and asked yourself, "How did I end up here?" The other day, my friend, Rick and I were driving to a the Brass Armadillo Antique shop in Grain Valley, Missouri. MapQuest was our guiding voice to get us there. Most of the trip is very easy. Get on I-70 and drive east. This worked great for almost all the trip. I listened to MapQuest as it took me past the antique shop and took me into a residential neighborhood two block away and it said, " You have reached your destination." Yes, I had reached my destination but it was not the destination that I was going to. Life can be the same way.
Sometimes this happens because we are given bad advice. Let me back up a little, It might be great advice but it is the wrong advice for me. I listen to a podcast called, The Climb. It is a music broadcast video about how to succeed in the music business. After all, Who doesn't want to succeed? Success is a great thing. I love wining.
Brent Baxter and Johnny Dwinell share their expertise. Brent is a successful Nashville songwriter who has written hit songs and Johnny owns a production company and shows artists how to get noticed. Johnny sent me an email and made a suggestion to get more fans. He suggested that I go to Twitter and follow forty new people a day. His suggestion was to pick an artist that I like and that my music is similar too. So I picked Eric Church and Jason Boland. Both of these artists have lots of fans that they would be glad to share with me. To be honest though, my music is not like theirs. I wish it was but my songs have more of a folk or Americana flavor.
Johnny had a saying that I thought was good. Jesus was the only person that changed the world with twelve followers. I decided to take his advice. I got on my Twitter account and started shopping for new followers. This is a time consuming process. On Twitter you can look at a profile description line and it might help you decide if they would like you and your music. I looked for folks that liked country music, loved Jesus, songwriters, DJ's, or were members of a band. I spent hours doing this for two days. Yes, I started following eighty to one hundred new people and twenty of them followed me. I followed one guy because he was a regular Joe like me. His profile said, I sell real estate in California. He followed me back. I thought that was kinda cool. How was I going to help him? and how was he going to help me? Nobody had anything to gain by us being friends.
This is the background for my real story. Today at church, Pastor Mark talked about Absalom in the Bible. Absalom was King David's son. Absalom was the son who tried to take over the kingship from his dad. He would stand outside the court of David and tell people that he disagreed with King David's ruling if they lost. He was a typical politician/baby kisser. He did everything he could do to make himself look successful. He hired a chariot and had fifty men run before him. This would be like having a chauffeur, a limo, and having your own parade. He was successful in the world's eye. He was great at promoting himself. If Absalom was living today he would have a million followers.
The story of Absalom does not end well. He tries to steal his Dad's kingship, sleeps with the Dad's girlfriends, and is killed during the battle for the kingdom. Not a very good ending but it did help to bring clarity to my life.
I believe success in life is accomplished from doing the right things for the right reasons. If I want to be a success, I should follow God and he will take care of the details. God could give me the lyrics to a great song tomorrow. He could get my song noticed my somebody who is looking for a great song., Or that might not be God's plan for my life. He can bless me with hundreds of followers, twelve followers and no followers.
I take something simple like writing a song. A gift that God has given me and I make it about me. Life ain't about me. Hey genius type that again. Life ain't about me. It's about God and him working in and through me. It's about God getting the glory for what he has done in my life.