My worst fear had come true.

By Hannah Brzozowski

If you’ve ever done public speaking, you know exactly what fear I’m talking about. I forgot what I was going to say once I looked out into the crowd. My mind decided to go completely blank. I started my sentence… ”Today Nick talked about 3 words….”

Then the panic started to sink in. I had no idea what those three words were that Nick had just spent the last 30 minutes talking about. Finally after what seemed like an hour (which was only about 5 seconds), I looked over and Nick and asked her for the 3 words: people, pain, and providence. And then I picked up where I left off.

If you were at the in person service on April 11th, then you were able to witness this embarrassing moment of mine. After I got off the stage, I realized something. At that moment, I could have easily given up. I could have ran off in shame or just trailed off and forgotten everything else I was going to say. But instead, I stayed, finished what I wanted to say, and led the church in prayer. I think I stayed for a few reasons.

Today, I wanted to share those 3 reasons with you.

#1. I knew that there were people in the crowd cheering me on. One thing I absolutely love about our church community is that we cheer each other on when we’re trying new things. Just the other day, I shared with an Anchor Group that I was working on writing my first talk for a service one day in the near future. And they cheered. I wasn’t expecting it but I was so encouraged in that moment. So fast forward a few weeks later when I’m getting up to do a very mini version of sermon at the end, I knew that that same group was wanting me to succeed. Who do you have cheering you on in this season of perseverance? If you need some people, I'd love for you to join an Anchor Group.

#2. I knew that this was a moment to practice Emotional Courage. We talked about this last month but the concept is so fascinating to me, so I want to talk about it a bit more. The idea is that you do something even though you’re scared to do it. So in that moment that I forgot everything, I was able to pick myself up and push forward because I knew that this was a moment to build some emotional courage. When's the last time you did something even though you had a thousand knots in your stomach? Next time you have that feeling, think it's time to build up that muscle of courage - it gives purpose to that discomfort.

#3. I knew that God was going to use me regardless of my mistake. Earlier on in the service, we sang “You Made A Way.” The song is about how God is constantly working on our behalf, regardless of ourselves. One of the lines goes: “You made a way, When our backs were against the wall, And it looked as if it was over, You made a way, And we're standing here, Only because You made a way.” So I knew that God was going to work, regardless of my screw up and that God often uses people who have made big mistakes (Moses didn’t have faith that God could use him, David had someone murdered, or Martha cared way too much about everything being perfect… just to name a few).

So, why do I share all of this? To encourage you not to give up this week, even when you mess up. You never know what that mistake will teach you — and you never know what will happen if you don’t give up.