Starting Well | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Starting Well | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ken Grant
07/29/20
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Beginnings are a strange combination of excited anticipation and overwhelming dread. Taking that first step into the unknown carries with it a weight that has the potential to make even the strongest will quake in fear. There are never guarantees when you put yourself out there for others to see. Safe in your own cocoon you have the option to start over and change when things go wrong, but when the lights come on you have to do your best and make the necessary adjustments on the fly. Early successes are often a product of pushing through when everything around seems to be falling apart and all of your inward emotions are telling you to quit and just walk away.

My most intense memory of such a challenge was the time I was chosen by my pastor to lead the mid-week bible study at our church. I was relatively young, but he saw something in me and gave me the opportunity. I learned later that one method of spiritual development involves a leader identifying a gift in a young person even before that person is completely aware of it. I had led small group bible studies and had a deep reverence for God’s Word, but this was by far the biggest step up of my spiritual life. The gathering took place in a large hall and was attended by a large enough group that I found the thought daunting. In addition, most of those who attended were far more seasoned in their Christian life and knew the bible very well. I had my work cut out for me and I knew it. How I did in this opportunity would affect how others within the church viewed me and whether or not I would get more such chances in the future.

I needed to make a good first impression, but the pressure to do so was actually working against me. I had to be at my best, but my mind was going to all the ways it could go terribly wrong. I thought about my appearance, my delivery, my speech, and a thousand other things and as the day approached the mountain of challenges just kept growing larger. But, finally the day arrived and I managed to do my best to deliver God’s truth to the group. I thought I had done well and was taking a deep breath when I looked up to see him approaching. He was a man named John who had a military background, a matching grim expression, and who walked as erect as any person I ever met. In that moment I would have run, but I had nowhere to go. I merely stood there as he approached knowing that my assessment of how I had done was worthless. His assessment would tell all.

I stood as casually as possible and waited for John to work his way to the front. He stopped in front of me, gave me an enigmatic smile, put out his hand and said, “Good job.” My heart nearly burst out of my body. I smiled, returned his handshake, and thanked him profusely before he turned and walked away. John was always a man of few words, but those two words had meant everything to me. I had made a good start and others had noticed. I was set on a good course and that course has found me teaching in various places around the world and in my home church as well. It had taken all of my courage, but it prepared me for so many amazing opportunities to come and I hope to keep teaching others until that day I’m called to my eternal home.

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