There are many things I learned in high school. Here’s one of them, and another, and here’s the 3rd: Stick to your notecards.
This is going to be especially painful for me. I was going to post it yesterday, but I really really really don’t want to relive my embarrassing moments if I don’t have to. But I learned from this experience, so maybe you can too. You’re welcome.
I ran for freshman class treasurer. I had a neat little speech written out on neat colorful index cards. I practiced every day for the one week we had to prepare. I went through that speech in my mind, out loud, and in front of the mirror. I even practiced my intonations and different pauses for effect.
The day of the rally came. I was dressed nice. I had my notecards. I was prepared. Nervous but well prepared.
In front of the entire freshman class, one by one, the candidates stood up to give their 2 minute speech. Except all of their speeches lasted roughly 30 seconds.
“Hey guys! My name is Jane* and I’m running for class president. Vote for me! It’s going to be a fun year!”
“Hey, hey! I’m Ann* and I’m running for vice president. I’m going to do my very best. Vote for me, Ann, for VP!”
“Hi!!! I’m…”
You get it.
I panicked.
It was my turn. I got up. Walked to the microphone. Wiped the sweat off my palms. Glanced at my notecards and…bombed. I totally bombed, as in I pretty much guaranteed that I wouldn’t win. What I said went a little something like this…
Hi guys…I’m Angela. Ahem. Yeah, it’s going to be a good year. I’m running for class treasurer. Yeah! So I don’t have a lot of experience, but even if I don’t know what I’m doing, I’ll try my best. Yeah, go Cardinals! Okay, um, vote for me. Oh yeah, I’m Angela. Thanks guys!
…
I actually said, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” That actually came out of my mouth.
I should have stuck to my notecards. I don’t know if I would have won if I did, but I wouldn’t have looked so bad or sounded like a fool or basically throw all my efforts down the drain because of fear, doubt, and panic.
I’ve never had as much energy and as much passion as I did when I was a teenager. I could function with 2 hours of sleep. I actually did better on my SATs when I was hungry and half asleep then when I took it a 2nd time with 8 hours of sleep and a full breakfast. I was on warp speed.
But running on passion alone also plunged me in trouble. I broke curfews, burned bridges, and bombed speeches in front of 400 people.
In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus was talking about the cost of being His disciple. He talked about a person planning everything out before building a tower and a king studying the situation before going out to war.
In the same way, we need to take the time to sit down and plan things out. I don’t say that lightly because I’m not a planner and because plans can be thwarted by outside factors. But even in the most general sense, we have plans laid out by us or for us. Stick to those plans.
Jesus goes on to say that those who don’t give up everything can’t be His disciples (v.33). That sounds like throwing your plans away. Think of it this way though.
I sat down, planned, and studied my campaign speech. But when the time came, I didn’t deliver it. I didn’t lay it out in front of everyone. I didn’t give up everything for that speech. Instead, I panicked about being different because my speech is closer to 2 minutes than 30 seconds. I decided I’d rather sound like the other candidates instead of sticking to my notecards.
I lost my saltiness (v.34).
Don’t loose your saltiness. When you’ve laid out your plans (and prayed for God’s direction, of course), stick to them. Lay everything out. Don’t be swayed by fear, doubt, or panic.
In the ministry, my team have prayed for and made plans for events we weren’t sure would work. But when the plans are from God, it didn’t matter what others said or what our resources looked like. When we stuck to them, God made it work. He blessed them.
Stick to your notecards.
*Names have been changed because it’s been over 10 years since I was a freshman and I just don’t remember. Oops, did I just give away my age?
