And they just won't stop coming.
I'm on the Reading Team at my church, which means that every so often I read the Scripture passage at the beginning of the service I attend. Last weekend, though, in addition to the Bible verses, I was also asked to read a special thing that wrapped up the series on the Book of Mark we'd been going through over the past six weeks. For this, I had to read at all three services—two in the morning and one in the evening.
I have no problem with speaking in public, and I wasn't nervous about reading in front of everyone at three different services. Right before I was supposed to go up during the first service, however, I had a near panic attack. I wasn't worried about falling flat on my face or stumbling over words. There was a bigger issue at hand: I could not stop yawning.
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| At least this didn't happen. |
I didn't know what to do. During the worship songs, the yawns just kept coming. I wasn't bored or even that tired, so maybe I wasn't getting enough oxygen or whatever the reason for yawning is. I started chewing gum, which has always put a stop to any yawning I've done in the past. Didn't work.
After the worship band sang the final song, one of the pastors came up to make announcements and lift up prayers of people within the church before introducing me. At the end of the prayer, there's always a time when the pastor allows a little time for everyone to lift up their own silent prayers.
You can bet there was one thing I was praying about right then.
I was really starting to worry. It just seemed so wrong that I should go in front of the entire congregation and yawn my way through what was supposed to be an impactful reading over the series and then continue that yawning through God's Word. I was fairly certain I was about to lose my spot on the Reading Team. It was fun while it lasted.
I heard the pastor begin to introduce me just after I had finished one more yawn. (As a side note, I can never recall a time I have yawned this much in my entire life. It's as if every single yawn I've ever had came back to haunt me in this very moment. What the heck??) I stood, prepared to bring shame to myself and possibly an entire team at church. But, as soon as I got up to the microphone, it was as if some miraculous cure came over me. I read what I was supposed to with no yawning whatsoever. I didn't think about anything yawn-related the entire time.
When I got back to my seat, I simply said, "Thank you, Lord," in my head, and He had a response for me on that one.
Do you really think I would let you mess up a message I want people to hear?
Touché, God. Touché.
What really frustrated me the most about this situation was that I hadn't trusted God completely to take care of me. Instead, I let anxiety take hold of my mind and convince me that I was about to fail at something because I couldn't control it. I realize the whole thing seems a bit silly and ridiculous—I mean, I'm talking this much about yawning, for crying out loud—but it is still an instance where I should have relied more on the Lord.
There are many times we will face yawn attacks, so to speak, in life, but we can't let those moments get the best of us and rob us of hope. In those situations where we are completely powerless, there's Someone who is so powerful that it doesn't matter how much it seems like the odds are against us. He can still come through with the victory.
Don't panic if a yawn comes your way—after all, it's something so fleeting that can easily be destroyed by the One who is on your side forever.
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