WAKE UP

WAKE UP!

Some years ago, there was an unforgettable horse named Sunday Silence.  The back story is that Sunday Silence should have been dead…twice.  As a young colt, Sunday Silence contracted a deadly case of colic.  Colts with colic only rarely survive.  Sunday Silence got colic as colt, yet he survived.

Due to his prior medical condition, Sunday Silence was put up for sale at two separate auctions.  However, no one wanted to purchase a horse that had colic or such an unsightly appearance.  On top of his horrific health issues, Sunday Silence was almost killed when the driver of his trailer had a heart attack and caused a terrible traffic accident.  Bottom-line: Sunday Silence was an unwanted and unmarketable horse.

Eventually, a man named Charles Widdingham bought Sunday Silence (sight unseen) for $25,000 because everything he had heard suggested to him that Sunday Silence was a tough horse, a survivor.  At the age of 76, Charles was the oldest trainer to ever bring a horse to The Kentucky Derby, but he entered that prestigious event anyway, only to become the brunt of everybody’s jokes. 

Even the jockey he had chosen, Pat Valenzuela, was in a semi-broken condition.  He had only recently been rehabilitated from drug abuse.  So the odds were heavily stacked against them.  Most people would not have wagered one dollar on that horse, his rider, or his trainer.

Nevertheless, Charles and Pat had faith and they trained Sunday Silence rigorously.  They worked around the clock to get him ready for the toughest race in the world.  Of course, they were surrounded by million dollar horses with wealthy owners, possessing deep financial pockets.  And they were categorically dismissed, as an old fool, a young punk drunk and a sickly unsightly horse.

The day of The Kentucky Derby finally arrived.  When the gun sounded and the horses bolted out of their gates, a pitiful looking Sunday Silence (at first) wobbled back and forth, appearing to be completely confused.  But the gloating spectators overlooked one important thing: Sunday Silence had heart.

All of a sudden, something strange and unprecedented occurred.  For reasons unknown to his startled critics, Sunday Silence seemed to wake up – and he raced down the track like a champion thoroughbred.  It seemed that he realized ‘I’m in a big race…and I want to win!’  Sunday Silence shot off like a bolt of lightning, passed all of his ungulate competitors, and won The Kentucky Derby that day – all because he had heart.

Perhaps others have grossly underestimated your worth or occasionally devalued your contribution.  Please do not allow your dream to be deterred or deferred by their disapproving glances or commentary.  You know better.  Wake up!  Put your entire being (body, soul and spirit) into that unique assignment for which only YOU been positioned on this planet.  No, it is definitely not too late.  Start seeing (TODAY) what GOD had in mind for you, long before the foundation of the world.  Write it down, meditate on it, plan it and act upon it.  Then evaluate your progress, tweak your strategy, and try again and again and again, until you succeed!

Sunday Silence silenced all of his adversaries without speaking one word.  His bold actions were the loudest and clearest expression of his winning destiny.  YOU have far more value and capability than Sunday Silence.  WAKE UP, stand up, get moving; ask God for the faith, wisdom and power that will put your life into overdrive…then just do it.  Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed!