3.29.2011

[awards and apologetics]


Some of you may be wondering why it's been so long since my last post. The reason being, I was up in Seattle, WA competing in a speech and debate qualifying tournament.

I competed in 5 events, and God was gracious, and it resulted in ‎9th place Team Policy, 4th place Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd place Apologetics, 2nd place Humorous Interpretation, 2nd place Speaker, and 3rd place Sweepstakes.

The following is a bit of reflection on some of the lessons I learned at the tournament.

"God is sovereign." That's what I told myself, as I arrived at the tournament, 6:00am in the morning.

"God is sovereign." is what I mumbled to myself, as I silently lifted a prayer to God after seeing the round 1 match-ups.

"God is sovereign." I whispered to myself frantically as I searched for my apologetics box, which had disappeared from it's designated place 10 minutes before my round.

"God is sovereign." is what I joyfully exclaimed after successfully completing my impromptu-d apologetics card, in which I had drawn a topic that I had practically memorized.

"God is sovereign, God is sovereign, God is sovereign, God is sovereign."

I repeated these words countless times over the weekend. Through the joys of unexpected success, to the disappointment of unexpected failure.

Then, in the Finals for apologetics, I received the topic of "sanctification." In those few short minutes of prep time, God spoke to me more than I spoke to the judges in my speech.

I'm a competitive guy. Really competitive. And often times, it's hard for me to say "God is sovereign" and really mean it. But as I spoke about sanctification, I realized that letting my pride, my competitiveness, and my own agenda get in the way, I was missing out on the biggest reward of all, and that was allowing God to work in my life to sanctify me, and draw me into a closer relationship with Him.

Letting go is tough. I want to do well. But I'm trying to dedicate every moment of every tournament to God's glory. He is the ultimate prize.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, you are doing incredibly well! You really should come to a STOA tournament and qualify so we can compete against each other at NITOC. ;-)

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  2. God is sovereign...amen!!

    You did so well, Isaac. :) Good job!!

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  3. Very well said, Isaac! You are so right.

    ~Bethany Strang

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  4. I am fairly new to your blog; I learned about it through a friend of mine. Thank you for your posts that consistently bring glory to the name of Christ. You and your family are truly inspirations.

    By the way, all of the speech and debate stuff looks like it would be amazing.

    Thanks again,
    Sarah Beth

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