#008 - Dare Greatly: Be in the Arena

Welcome back to this episode of Hit Splits. And today I wanted to share something that is from long ago. Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech that would know become known as one of his most popular speeches, widely quoted in April 23, 1910. And I wanted to read this speech to you. I came across it today, and I thought it would just be an encouragement to all of you as you move forward in God's call to write, publish and market your books. So he says, it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how strong, how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again because there's no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst is, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither knew victory nor defeat. And so I thought this was great. And I just think so many times it's easy to be a spectator, to watch other people finish their book, publish their book, market their book. It's easy to stand back in the shadows. And yet the Lord wants us to move forward. He wants us to be in the arena. And. And obviously it's probably not the, you know, ideal illustration, you know, when you think about the arenas of, you know, days gone by. But I think it's, you know, it really just helps us to think again about being a doer of the word and not just a hearer. And I love how he encourages us to dare greatly. We always talk about taking those courageous steps, steps of faith, and it's easy to criticize others, to say what could be done better. But when you're actually out there doing it, you are going to experience, yes, either victory or defeat. But if you never risk trying, you're never going to know what God could do through you and through your book, through your message as you take these courageous steps of faith. So I just encourage you today to dare greatly, be the one in the arena, be the one that is courageously following God and, you know, having your business meetings with him and then taking action, doing the things that God is leading you to do, because ultimately we are partners with Him. It's not like just sitting on our couch and expecting everything to fall from the sky. You know, I mean, the Lord is going to give us wisdom. He is going to direct us. He is going to, you know, know, tell us which way to go and he's going to lead us. But then we, we still need to do the work. We still need to do the things that He's. He's inviting us to do. And there's no shame if you have been on the sidelines, if you have been a spectator, if you have been stuck in fear. Today is a new day. Today can be a day where you say, okay, no more. Not today, Satan. Today I'm going to move forward and what God is calling me to do. So let me pray for you. So we just pray for every Kingdom writer listening right now. I just pray that they would dare greatly and that they would move forward in your power and your strength. Not striving in their own strength and their own abilities, but following you, following after you and what you're leading and guiding them to do. And we just pray that it would not be in their strength, but in your power. And so we just thank you, Lord, for how you're going to use each of these Kingdom writers, the messages that they have, their books, to impact lives. And we, we just thank you that in the process, you are working on our own hearts. You are helping us to overcome fears, to. To grow personally, to learn to. To step out in faith, to trust you even more that sometimes the greatest work happens in us. So we thank you for all that you're doing and we just pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, I hope this was an encouragement to you. And again, I just pray that you dare greatly that you would choose to be in the arena, not just a spectator or on the sidelines, but that you would choose to join God and what he's doing today as he leads you, not in your strength, but in his power. So I just, just encourage you to do that. And I'm. I'll see you in the ne or talk to with you in the next hiit splits episode.