I read a story about a young man who had a dream to play professional football. In high school, he was a star player and won all kinds of awards. He came from a very small town where everybody knew him. All the children looked up to him and wanted to be like him. He was a local hero. But most of the coaches thought he was too small to play in college. He was turned down by all the major universities. He ended up going to a junior college and working at a pizza restaurant. He didn't even play football.
One night he was out delivering a pizza. A ten-year-old boy answered the door. When this boy saw the young man, his eyes got so big. The boy was star struck. He couldn't believe the player he had watched so many times thrill the crowd, so quick, so fast, was standing right in front of him. About that time, the boy's father walked up, and the young man gave the father the pizza. The little boy was very confused. He looked up at his father. He looked at the young man and said very innocently, "What are you doing delivering pizzas?"
Those words from a ten-year-old boy lit a new fire on the inside. When he got off of work, he went to the gym and started training. That summer he trained harder than he had ever trained before. He gained 70 pounds and got bigger, stronger, quicker and faster. In the fall, he tried out at a major university where he had always wanted to play. Not only did he make the team, but he became their star player. Two years ago, he was drafted in the first round to play professional football. Today, he is a star in the NFL, living out his dream. But here's what he said, "It would have never happened if that ten-year-old boy wouldn't have asked me, 'What are you doing selling pizzas?'"
My question today, "Have you settled somewhere way beneath what you know God has put in you?" Have you given up on a dream or let go of a promise because it didn't happen the first time? Maybe you had a setback. Maybe somebody told you, "No, you're not talented enough. You're not big enough." I ask you respectfully, "What are you doing there?"
You have so much in you. You are full of talent, ideas, creativity and great potential. When God breathed His life into you, He put a part of Himself in you. You have the DNA of Almighty God. You were never created to be average, to barely get by, to always struggle, or to just take the leftovers. You were created to excel! You are equipped, empowered, fully loaded, lacking nothing. Don't you dare settle for second best! Don't get stuck in a rut thinking that you've reached your limits. Draw the line in the sand and say, "Today is a new day. It may not have happened the first time, the fifth time or the thirtieth time, but I'm not going to settle! I'm going to start stretching my faith to become everything God has created me to be."
"Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise…" (Micah 7:8, NIV)