Be All You Can Be

Any time we open ourselves up to fear, we fall prey to his deceptions and intimidations. Yet, if we submit our hearts to God and stand in faith, we can resist those first fearful thoughts. As we yield to God we can master our reactions to fear and the enemy will soon flee.  Francis Frangipane

My middle sister and I went to high school together.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school with my oldest sister as she had graduated before I started, and I graduated before my younger brother started. 

Anyway, when I was a sophomore my sister was a junior.  We joined our marching group and at the time my sister was a Junior Co-Captain.  I decided to try to follow in her footsteps.  You had to try out for the various captain positions and to this day I don’t know how I was able to get through the try-outs.  I was extremely shy, (you can’t say that about me today), and there were several things you had to do in try-outs.  You had to make up a hand-routine, (this was kind of like a mime with gloves on), give a speech, do a marching routine and blow all the whistle commands. 

Here is this skinny, extremely shy teenager who is going to get up in front of 150 girls and sponsors and give a speech, do routines and not pass out from sheer terror.  This is the thing.  In my freshman year I tried out for Junior Co-Captain and I didn’t make it.  You would have thought I would have stopped there.  I didn’t.  The next year when my sister was a Senior Co-Captain I was determined to try out again.  I guess failure didn’t sit well with me, so that year I tried out again. 

That was the year I came out of my shell.  I was no longer this shy introverted person.  I overcame my fear of rejection.  I had already lost the previous year so what made me think I would win the next one.  I like to think that was God working in me.  The coolest thing about this whole thing was when I tried out the second time I received enough votes to become Senior Co-Captain and the even cooler thing was I took my sister’s place when she graduated.  They had a ceremony that took place when the votes were counted and my sister symbolically passed her whistle on to me.  That is one of the best memories I have of high school.  Not only had I accomplished something I never thought I could do, but I had a special memory with my sister. 

God created us to become more than we ever think is possible.  The moment of try outs for me was filled with fear.  My fear was so great that I thought when I stepped out in front of the crowd that I would freeze and not be able to say a word.  The weird thing is I don’t remember the faces of everyone looking on.  I had practiced so long and hard that it just came to me without thinking about it.  Isn’t that the very thing God wants from us.  He wants us to meditate on His word every day so that when we are called to step out in faith, we will not hesitate.  Don’t let fear interfere with God’s purpose in your life.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, what better way to praise You than to live my life for You.  The memories of years gone by have taught me that You created each of us with a purpose in mind.  Your purpose can only be fulfilled if we step out in faith.  This faith will only come if I am willing to set aside my fear and walk toward You.  Thank you for helping me to be all that I can be for You.

Scripture:   Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.  1 John 4:17-19