Several years ago, there was a wrestler that went by the name of “The Rock”. I’ve never really watched wrestling but he was pretty well known for a catchphrase that he always said to the person he was up against. He would look at his opponent and in an effort to make known his superiority to them, he would say, “Know your role and shut your mouth.”
I’m pretty sure almost every young boy during that time period would know exactly who made the saying popular if you said that when it was popular, and even now.
Several years ago, when I was praying that God would teach me how to be bold for Him as a young pastor’s wife, I heard him say to me, “Telina, I want you to know your role and open your mouth!” Satan had tried to keep my mouth shut for so long by showing me my shortcomings and areas in my life that needed improvement. It was time that I put him in his place.
I’m sure you’ve been told that the words you speak are important, but did you realize that something you say now has the power to change a person’s life?
Years ago, I was a young teenager and had been to my great aunt’s house with my grandma. We sang a lot while we were there and had recorded a song that I sung on a tape. Does anyone remember those? Ha! When we got back to my grandma’s house, my grandpa was there and I let him listen to what we had recorded.
My grandpa was known for being a good judge of character. He could usually get a good idea of what kind of person someone was by just being around them a little while. Usually, what he said he felt about a person would turn out to be completely accurate. So when he said something, I listened.
Something else you should know about him: I can’t remember for sure what state he was in, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was a little tipsy, or even completely drunk when he said this. It still didn’t hinder me from listening. I knew he would tell me the truth.
He quietly listened and when the song was over, he said that my singing was better than my piano playing but it could definitely be where it needed to be with practice. Then, he looked at my grandma and said, “They’re going to be calling her.” She said, “Oh, they already do!” Meaning that local churches called me and asked me to come and sing. He said, “No Mildred, I mean from all over the world.” That was all I needed. My poppaw, which is what we called him, believed in me; that’s all I needed to find the confidence that I could do it.
I have had a hard time finding balance with my music through the years. It seems that I go from hearing song ideas in every conversation that I have, to going weeks and sometimes months at a time without anything and wondering why I’m even still doing this. But in those times, I can still hear Poppaw in the back of my mind telling my grandma that they would be calling me from all over the world to sing.
A little over a year ago, I began wondering if the world would ever open back up and the thought of traveling anywhere to sing for anyone again seemed like it may be something that only happened in my dreams. But guess what happened. A few months ago, I was asked to sing for a zoom event with people from several different countries in it. Then about a month ago, I was asked to sing a song I had written in a concert that was put on by my music mentor which, once again, would be reaching people from several different countries.
Just before those events happened, I thought it was something that was so far-fetched, especially with the world on lockdown. But once again, God showed me that this is when he does his best work. When things look impossible.
Maybe you’re believing for something too. Maybe it’s for your kids and loved ones to be saved. Maybe you’re starting to get tired and think that what you’ve been praying for might not happen. I want to encourage you to keep praying those prayers and to not get weary in well doing.
Even if you don’t see the results of your prayers, keep praying them. I have seen it happen multiple times. A mother prays for her kids and grandkids, and sadly, they do not come to know the Lord until after she has passed. But, her prayers still made a difference in their lives and they did give their lives to Jesus.
One of the inventors of radio, Karl Ferdinand Braun, said that no sound ever dies, it just decays beyond the point that we can detect it with our ears. Several years after the invention of the radio, came the realization that radio waves were able to bounce off different layers of the atmosphere, which made it possible to communicate with people far distances away.
It gives me peace to think that the prayers that I’ve prayed for my family are still bouncing around in the atmosphere and will be long after I’m gone. I believe that the prayers that my loved ones have prayed for me are still out there too.
So go ahead and know your role and open your mouth. Pray those prayers of salvation, protection, and favor over your family. Don’t let Satan bully you into shutting your mouth. It’s not only your right to speak freedom and liberty into the atmosphere of your home, it is your role! Know it and do it!
Telina Frye is the author of Dare to Dream, as well as a pastor’s wife and mother to her 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter.
She is a singer/songwriter and a natural born dreamer. Telina is also credentialed in the Church of God as an Exhorter and holds a Minister of Music License. She serves as the worship leader at the church where her husband serves as lead pastor.
Telina loves having deep, meaningful conversations about what is and what could be. She hopes this blog will inspire readers to dare to look past what is, see what can be, and reach for the impossible.
by leaps and bounds 