Tonight was the night! I was ready for this presentation. I had prepared for weeks. What an honor to bring God’s message to such a powerful group of people. It was a message of hope and I could hardly wait. I knew this material about Jezebel and how fear tries to overcome our faith. God would be with me and tonight was the night.
It was quite a night alright.
When you train and speak professionally, you move with your audience. You watch them, feel their energy and emotions and shift with their momentum. Cell phones don’t exactly add to the moment. That was the first thing that happened. It didn’t ring once but kept ringing. No matter how I changed my position and moved on the stage, my audience became distracted and began to look for the caller.
Then…..the ultimate nightmare. The heel of my shoe wedged in a crack in the stage and I fell into the podium. Catching myself, I kept on speaking hoping to recapture the point of my story.
Trust me on this one. When things are working well for you, think long and hard before you change something. I had decided to change the way I used my reference points at a podium (which I rarely if ever use). I lost my place and had an extended pause as my mind was bilaterally reeling “you’ve forgotten something” but “you’d better keep on talking”.
It was over and I was so disappointed in my performance. Looking for validation, I kept asking different people, “Was it ok?” “How was it?” A wave of insecurity came over me EVEN THO the crowd applauded and several people stood up. STILL not enough for me, I lamented all the way home.
I asked God, “Why God?” I knew the material. How could He be with me and I perform so poorly? Maybe it’s to change my course as that group will never ask me back again. I had to be patient. I had to be ‘still’ and listen for the lesson. There is always a lesson.
And, today, I got my answer. An email came in from the person who hired me. She wanted me to know that a member of the
audience came to her and said, “For the first time in my life, I feel like I have hope. I don’t want to die.” And, I got the lesson.
No matter if a cell phone goes off, you lose your place or you stumble and fall – when God is with you – it is His victory and not your own. He was victorious.
We can never doubt. We must be steadfast in believing – having the patience, faith and courage to go on – to let it go and rest in His love and His promise.
“The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
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