Who’s in Your Audience?

“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints.” (Psalm 149:1 NKJV) 

Recently, our adult daughter Elizabeth presented a vocal concert of classical Christian music, with works by Haydn, Mozart, and Handel. Singing solos is a gift of joy from Elizabeth’s heart—she is a talented, trained musician who has sung in front of large groups for more than 20 years. 

Elizabeth’s targeted audience for this recital, though? Only two people. Her grandmothers. 

Both of her grandmothers are in their 90s, and one of them recently moved to a seniors center. Elizabeth was visiting from out of town and wanted to honor them with a special performance at the residence. We arranged for an accompanist,* set up the venue, and printed programs.

The residential staff were very amenable to having Elizabeth sing in their main lobby and extended the invitation to the entire facility. More than 40 residents, staff members, and friends showed up! Afterward, Elizabeth led everyone in a hymn sing-along as well.

While it was nice to have the larger audience, Elizabeth primarily sang to honor the beloved elder women in her life. They were the ones who mattered most. And they were thrilled.

Have you ever performed for large crowds? In music, dance, theater, school plays, talent shows, karaoke? Perhaps there were lots of people in the audience you didn’t know. But I’ll bet there were a few loved ones out there—your family and friends—who showed up just to hear you. And you gave the very best performance you could, so they would be proud of you.

Unless you’re a professional in the fine arts, you probably don’t have on-stage moments very often. We go through our days doing our jobs, cleaning the house, helping friends, going to church, preparing meals, and all our other everyday activities without a large audience.

And yet…God is always with us. He watches over us at all times, seeing our actions and hearing what we say. He knows us deeply—our thoughts, emotions, desires—good and bad. 

Even when we’re surrounded by other people, God is the only one in attendance who matters. He is our audience of One.

I confess that I lose sight of His presence more often than I should. If you were on a stage before a king at his royal command, would you ignore him? That’s what I do when I think I’m the center of the show and don’t acknowledge that God is the center of everything. 

Would it change the way you respond and act, knowing God is always in your audience? Would you put in more effort for excellence in your Christian walk? Would you seek to honor Him with the talents He has given you?

Friend, I hope you and I both will recognize that we are always “singing solos” for our beloved King Jesus, the One who has saved us and deserves our very best. I hope we can take His talents and share them as if we are singing only for Him, dancing only for Him, cleaning house only for Him—pouring out our very best in love and praise for Him. 

Not only will He be pleased, but He will join us in the song and dance, covering us with His love as well. May we find our greatest joys this week in singing our hearts out for our audience of One.

Blessed Jesus, King and Ruler of my life, I praise You and magnify Your name—You are my audience of One. Forgive me for failing to strive for excellence in sharing the gifts You have given me. I pray that whatever I do—in word, deed, song, worship, employment, recreation—will be done to please You, to glorify Your name, and in thanksgiving to Your Father. May I dance and sing here on earth for You, until You call me to join You in Your joyful celebration in heaven. In Your name, Amen.

Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her blogs are featured on Crossmap.com and AriseDaily. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at NancyCWilliams.com and subscribe at the bottom. 

© Copyright 2025 Nancy C. Williams (text and photography). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. #solo #song #Mozart #Haydn #Handel #Messiah #performance #concert #vocalist

*Many, many thanks to accompanist Carole Browne who spent many hours preparing for this concert with complicated music!

**Translation from Latin: And He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. (Apologies for the mom-recorded quality…Elizabeth sounded much better in person!)