What is your deepest fear? I have heard the poem that asks this question in recent movies and it has touched me on a deep level. I watched the movie Akeelah and the Bee over this past week while watching cable and this poem was quoted. So many of us try and do what is simple and take the path of least resistance because it suits us. This journey of life is filled with many obstacles and road blocks. It is intended to be that way in order to make you into the exact you you are to be. Most people miss the opportunity to grow and give up and give in to pressure.

A few years ago I preached a sermon at my fathers church in Mechanicsville, VA and I dealt with pressure. I said to the congregation that a diamond is one of the most valuable things that we have. It comes from a piece of coal. Well how is a diamond formed? It is formed by pressure. Every piece of coal does not become a diamond. Only the ones that stand up under pressure are able to be formed into this valuable stone. You need to be a diamond. Most people look externally to the reasons why they fail in life. In order for you to be just what God intends for you to be, you must stand against the pressure of life and come out on the other end as a diamond.

The first line of that poem starts like this, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us, ..." When we are young, we have dreams and goals that are lofty. I say lofty because most people do not even believe that you will go after what you want. Let's face it, most people just wind up settling for what life throws at them instead of going out and getting what is rightfully theirs to begin with.

You have a right, more than that a promise from God himself that you will be able to have peace, joy, and prosperity. We have these promises from our creator and we do not take full advantage of them. Why? Because when times get hard, most give up. You can not be a blessing to me if you do not do what God called you to do. You can not be a blessing to the world unless you stand the pressure and become a diamond.

In part my success is dependent on you playing your part in the world. If Martin or Malcolm did not stand up, I would not be where I am today. If Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and other black leaders did not risk death, my freedom may have never come. If you do not do what you were created to do, who will you hold back? The bible says that wide is the way that leads to destruction. The path to Him is called strait (not straight). This word means hard or difficult. This path builds character. This path builds leaders. Stop looking at challenges as give up points. Look at them as the way to create something precious in you.

You have everything you need inside of you to be a great person. Never give up because of circumstances. You can not grow with out some struggle.