Mr. Woodson prided himself on making chemistry the hardest class. In my high school, he gave tests most of us could barely pass. He was a teacher many students feared.
Despite hours and hours of trying to memorize the elements and so many other facts, I still hadn't mastered it. So, I went to class unprepared. Woodson called on me.
My mind went blank. I told him I didn't know. He asked me another question. "I don't know." Angry now, he kept hammering me with questions. I'd seen him badger others. He'd made girls cry. My face was red. I wanted to crawl under the desk and die.
I might have recovered if he had stopped there, but he didn't. He'd worked himself into a rage. He glared at me and sneered, "Don't even bother applying to university. You'll never make it."
I never checked out any colleges or universities.
After high school, I joined the Air Force. I still thought about college, but it was a pipe dream. While in the Air Force, I decided to try a course at a local community college.
After earning straight A's in my first eight or ten classes, I, uh, began to think, maybe I can do this. After the Air Force, I went to West Virginia University. I graduated with highest honors.
I went to a top-20 law school, the University of North Carolina. I became a lawyer and later became an assistant professor, teaching law at universities in the U.S. and China.
Even as a high school kid, I knew that Mr. Woodson was a frustrated, angry, broken human being. He reminded me a lot of my drunk stepfather. The sad part is, I let him tell me my identity. I let his voice become a voice in my head. For years, I relived that horrible day.
In my mind, I heard his words and felt the agony of being humiliated in front of the entire class. I relived that horrible moment hundreds of times.
I couldn't make it go away. If I hadn't finally tried a few community college courses, his words would have won and changed the course of my life for the worse.
What voices are you listening to? We all have negative voices in our lives. Maybe an overly stern father, a local bully who terrorized you as a kid, or your own voice relentlessly tearing down your self-esteem.
Satan uses those voices to steal our identity and deny us our, uh, destiny. If you listen to the voices of this world, you will never become who God has already made you to be. When you were born again, your life was united with Jesus' life.
Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." In other words, don't listen to the voices of this world. Let God's voice—His Word—be your identity and open your destiny. The specific things God has prepared for you to do with your life are waiting on the other side of your true identity.