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 Thoughts on a Monday  

When I was in high school, I loved acting in the one act play. I had roles in The Crucible and I Remember Mamma. My drama teacher would get so frustrated with me during rehearsals, because she always felt that I could do better. She may have been right. I would learn my lines and know the blocking and scene changes, but my effort was not what it could’ve been. On the night of the performance however, I switched it on! In my first-ever judged performance, I earned all-star cast. I remember her asking where that character had been all this time. He was in there, it just took the big stage and the lights for him to make an appearance.  

I think the same can be said of a lot of things, especially when it comes to our faith. You will see the true nature of a person when it is time to take the proverbial “big stage.” Like it or not, the world is that stage. We are faced with situations, day in and day out, where we must decide how we are going to present ourselves as followers of Christ. Are we going to follow the crowd, or are we going follow Christ?  Are we going to perform in the way the people of the world would, or the way Christ would?  

In John 17:11,14-17, Jesus prayed this prayer: I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one… I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  

The Lord has given us everything that we need to succeed on the big stage. By His Word we are sanctified, made like Him, so that we can face anything that the evil one throws at us. Pain, hardship, diagnoses, failed relationships, and so many other things are all in satan’s little bag of tricks. None of those things even begin to compare with making the blind see or causing the lame to walk! That is the power that we have access to. That is the strength that we have to take life by the horns!  

So… when you step out on that stage, whether it be at work, school, the intensive care unit of the hospital, or wherever, stand firm in His word and on His promises! He will get you through it!  

Have a great week!  

-Jason