Once Upon a Time…

Once upon a time there was a boy in a land far, far away who was different from many of his friends and classmates. This boy talked with a speech impediment. He hid behind this impediment and strived to excel in athletics to hide this defect in his speech. He believed this “defect” defined what he was – damaged.

This boy once told a friend, “If I can be a football all-star or run faster than everyone else, then maybe just maybe people will forget that I struggle when I talk.” He tried to convince himself that the thrill of a stadium full of fans cheering loudly or a trophy case full of awards would somehow magically replace his loneliness and emptiness.

The story goes on to say that this boy did receive a few football accolades and he did run really fast, but he still felt “defective.” But then something happened. As this boy matured, he began to see that the people who liked to be around him were not doing so because of successes or accolades, but rather, it was because of the person he was – the very person that God made him to be. The insecurities caused by his speech impediment still lingered. Still causing this boy, now a man, to hide behind his “defect,” not fulfilling his God intended purpose.   

As the years wore on, God began to work in this man’s heart, even as the man continued to run and hide. God did not push His way into the man’s life, but He just patiently pursued him, softening his heart, one blood vessel at a time. One day this man found himself coming face to face with his speech impediment as he stood behind a podium and was about to speak in front of an audience for the first time. He knew God had put him in front of the microphone, but still he was terrified. He stood there thinking to himself, “I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.” He continued to view his speech impediment through the eyes of his own insecurities rather than through the eyes of God.

The story goes on to say that this man became a pastor. He is very comfortable talking in front of audiences. He still has a speech impediment, but now sees it as part of God’s story. This man is no longer pastoring a church, and now does much of his pastoral “speaking” through writing. At times, this man falls back into insecurity when his speech is difficult. It is still very much a work in progress, but these days he mostly sees his imperfect speech as a true gift from the perfect God. He loves to share the story with anyone who will listen – the story of how God pursued him and had a plan for his life, and how God is not going to let a little thing like imperfect speech patterns get in the way of that plan. In fact, it was God who allowed this speech impediment in the first place.

So today, maybe you do not have a speech impediment, but maybe it is something else that is keeping you from becoming all you can be. My encouragement for you today is to just step out of your comfort zone and watch what God does. You find yourself wondering, “Is God really pursuing me? And what could I possibly have that He wants?” From the very first pages of the Bible we see God’s pursuit of mankind. And it is not what you HAVE that he wants. What He wants is YOU. God wants to use you, with all your broken parts, in His story of rescuing and redeeming a lost world.

The boy in this story is not the main character. God is the main character. The boy is simply in the cast of characters. I think this is such a beautiful story. Not because of the boy’s willingness to surrender to God, but because it is about the lengths to which God goes to accomplish His plans in and through each of us. God is not as much interested in our ability as He is our availability.

You are in God’s story too! He is lovingly chasing after you. Will you allow yourself to be caught? Will you embrace all that He has for you, broken pieces an all?

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