Practicing What I Preach

© 2010 Robert Wesley Branch

It’s not what you have done that brings you a breakthrough; rather, it’s what you consistently do – time and time again – that secures your victory.  And keeps you victorious.  We can’t – I can’t – get by on just what I know.  I have to do what I know to do.  And so do you.

Saturday’s radio program began just as they all have, since we first started podcasting the show on February 6 of this year.  After greetings and introductions, we launched into our “Let’s Talk About Everything!” segment and began discussing the top-of-mind stories and events of the week.  Inspired by the new documentary – Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work – the show was themed “The Hustle That Is Our Lives” and was all about how we each have a purpose for being here; and how to, day-by-day, pursue that calling.

About fifteen minutes into the show something happened when I made the statement: “The hardest thing for most people to do is to look into their soul (in prayer and in communion with God) and ask: what am I here for?”

The energy of the conversation shifted.  I could feel my co-hosts leaning in.  For the next several minutes, I expounded upon that statement, but even I knew something was different in the dialogue beginning to unfold.

I had changed.

There are moments in my life when I absolutely feel the presence of the Holy Spirit of God.  And on Saturday’s show, in the moment I made that statement, it had fallen down on me.

For the next two hours, we talked about hearing from God: how to do it and what to do after you have done it.  I shared notes (from the years and tears of my journey) about sowing the seeds of silence in my life in order to hear what God is saying to me at any given time.  The four of us engaged each other in the importance of doing the day-to-day work of dream building – and how to begin doing that.  Or how to begin again doing that.

“I know that part of my purpose is to write,” I said at one point.  And I dominated the conversation – minute after minute – with the nuggets of manna the Holy Spirit has written on the walls of my heart over the years I’ve been in communion with God.  As is often the case when I’m on the radio airwaves, I couldn’t stop from sharing my personal stories that make the point.  Only this time, I had gone from sharing to teaching – and from teaching to preaching.  And I almost felt sorry for it.  In fact, I think at one point I did apologize to the listeners for seemingly stepping up onto the proverbial soapbox and sounding off, as if I were the sole possessor of truth and wisdom. 

I, of course, am not.  But, as a child of God, I can be used.  I am a vessel.  And when I am willing to receive, God can pour out of Himself into me, so that I might speak (and write!) words that encourage and inspire those who hear (and read) them.  I have lived long enough, and written enough, to know that God works His Word through my words.  And I have the collected testimonies of hundreds who have reached out to me, to let me know that what I am telling you now is true.

When the show was over, one of my co-hosts said, “I need to take a few deep breaths.”  Another said, “That was truly inspiring.”  And the feedback from listeners and viewers has been about the same.  People were challenged to look within – and many of them are now doing exactly that.

I am one of those people.

In the several days since that program, I have had a few revelations: First, I need some rest.  Since our premiere broadcast, I have been going nonstop, interviewing scores of amazing people, producing two shows a week.  Second, while I was speaking to the masses, I was also talking to myself.  Everything I said to inspire others was also meant to encourage me.

While I went on and on about writing being my gift, the truth is this: I haven’t written anything since mid-January of this year.  While I extolled the virtues of sitting in sacred silence so that one can better hear from God, I cannot tell you the last time I consciously did just that.  It’s not what you have done that brings you a breakthrough; rather, it’s what you consistently do – time and time again – that secures your victory.  And keeps you victorious.  We can’t – I can’t – get by on just what I know.  I have to do what I know to do.  And so do you.

It is time for me to get busy: practicing what I preach.

And so, as I write, the television is turned off.  I have unplugged from cyberspace.  There is none of my favorite music playing.  No distractions.  And once again, I stare out over the balcony and onto the suburbs of Washington and back to my laptop, facing the blank page, determined to do what God has purposed me to do: write it all down and be an encouragement to others.

Over the next several days, sitting in sacred silence, that is exactly what I intend to do.

Let me please encourage you today: How gracious he will be when you cry for help!  As soon as he hears, he will answer you.  Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:19-21 (NIV)