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Moving Past Your Past

My sophomore year I joined the school band as an upright bass player. My first instrument, and the one I have most mastered, is the cello. I had been playing bass for just two months when I started in my school band. Many other band members had been playing their respective instruments since 3rd or 4th grade. I was the newbie and the only classical string player (although there was an electric bass player whose presence I am still grateful for). Being new and strange led me to feel like the other band members didn't like that I had joined the band. This caused me to play very, very quietly. I was terrified of what the other kids would think of my playing. I was particularly worried about upsetting a senior who played tuba, which is the section I was seated in. I felt that she was irritated by my mere presence when in reality she was just very shy which is why she didn't say anything to me.
One of my first lessons with the band director, he told me, "You can either have a really big role or a really small role in this band. It'll be up to you." I wanted to want a big role.
Still, after 3 years (and no real sign that anyone despised my presence in the band), my confidence had not grown and neither had my skills on the bass. After graduating, I realized I had let my low confidence in my bass skills choose for me a small role in the band. If I had chosen to embrace the unique circumstance I was in, I could have been a diamond in a coal mine. Unfortunately, I chose to stay coal.
You may feel, like I did after graduating from the band, that you wasted your opportunity, That may be accurate for where you are-I certainly wasted my opportunity, but that is only one of many exciting opportunities that God has designed for your life. So, the first step to becoming a diamond in a coal mine is to let go of all your regrets and missed opportunities from the past. Ask God to forgive you if you have messed up and give you His help to move on.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." (ESV)

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