Tabitha Brown's NAACP Win Teaches Us What Being Obedient To Your Calling Can Bring
Photo Credit: Jacob Webster
I just listened to Tabitha Brown's husband adorn his wife with a beautiful speech about the journey to her nomination and NAACP Image Awards win which took place on Saturday, March 27th. In it, he mentioned how dedicated Ms. Tabitha has been on her journey to see, what she knew she was destined to do, come to fruition. And it became so clear to me what being obedient to your calling can do for you and how far it can take you.
It can be extremely difficult to push through adversity, the tough times, the nay-sayers, and remain focused on a goal that perhaps only you can see. Having the stamina to keep going comes from 3 things. Your faith, your discipline, and your obedience.
Have Faith.
Faith is defined as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen in Hebrews 11:1. The NIV version describes it as confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Having faith that the dream, goal, passion, purpose, and calling you're pursuing, means that you're so confident it's gonna happen, it doesn't matter what your current circumstances look like. The evidence of it happening lies within your spirit until it can manifest itself in the natural.
Faith alone however won't get you there. See the bible also says that faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) The NIV breaks it down as "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." You've got to put some action to this thing, and here's where your discipline comes in. It's easy in the beginning when you're still excited about the thing you're pursuing. Before you get a taste of rejection and before your patience is tried. You'll willingly wake up early to hone on your craft. You'll stay up late at night adding finishing touches or simply putting in more "reps" to become better.
Be Disciplined.
But what happens when it's been years and you don't see any fruit? When those long nights seem pointless, the early mornings futile. Then what do you do? After all, there are no guarantees in this life, so why not catch these 8 hours of beauty sleep and at least not have a pair of bags under your eyes. Believe you me, been there, done that. I've given up about 100 times and had to pick my tail back up every time.
See discipline when you're accountable to one (seemingly) but yourself is really hard. Cause you tell yourself, you're not really letting anyone down. But you and I both know that's not true. There are people counting on us to see a thing through. Your immediate family for one, but even if not for them, then for people to which you are called. Your purpose is not really about you. As the quote goes: "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."
Think of all the inventions that we enjoy on a daily basis. What if Elon Musk had said, forget it! It's not only the Tesla we would be without, but a number of his other inventions (which you're free to Google). Your calling doesn't have to imply making history, but as Tabitha Brown, make people smile and feel good about themselves, and show the world that Vegan food can look and taste good. So being disciplined and never giving up goes far beyond just yourself, as not doing so robs the world of your gift.
To the world, you may be just one person, but to one person, you may be the world.
Be Obedient.
Many of us have a sense of what it is we love to do and what our passion is as teenagers. This may of course change along the road, but we generally have a sense of what brings us joy. What then tends to happen in our 20's, and definitely once we become mothers, is that practicality takes over. We start thinking about feasibility, funding, and familiarity. Our dreams may fall negative on all three and when you have to put food on the table, being obedient in your pursuit of purpose just isn't as important.
We (lie) and tell ourselves "later", but later never has been a day or month on the calendar, and so "later" never comes. But being obedient to that first love, before "life" and responsibilities took over is vital in order to experience all that life has in store for you. I mean, sure you can live a life without pursuing your calling, but it will never be as rich (and I don't mean monetarily, although that could also be part of it) as it will when you decide to be obedient and go after it.
[Also Related: 3 Easy Ways to Best Master Self-Discipline]
Conclusion.
Let your calling and your natural curiosity about a people, a cause, or problem lead you down a path of relentless attempts, efforts, and research to see goals come to fruition. Give yourself the grace and time necessary to see the doors of opportunity opened for you. Because inevitably they will. It's the starting and stopping and doubting that prolongs it all. But as I mentioned before, I'm that someone who has started and stopped more times than I care to count, and I'm here to tell you that as long as you get back up, you're good Sis. We can't undo the past, but we can change and impact the future. So go on and be the world changer that you are. ♥
Stay Blessed!