An Underdog Turned Winner

It was time for the Inter-school All Kerala ISC Cultural Competition, an ideal place for which every student in his or her lifetime strives to find a place in.

There was a girl, quite an underdog in school, who almost got a shock of her life when she found her name in the debate competition list to represent the school. A part of her was elated upon securing the position, while the other half of her just wanted to disappear underneath the earth, thinking about the enormous responsibility shoved upon her, to which she was certain that she is incapable of showing any justice.Soon like a dreadful villain the date of the competition approached. The girl, with butterflies in her stomach and a volcano erupting in her heart, entered the hall like a thief to the gallows and found herself facing two judges with faces deprived of any sort of kindness staring at her. She opened her mouth to speak and one minute later, she just froze!!! Not a single word came out from her mouth and with tears in her eyes she just mumbled a thank you and walked out from the hall. Nevertheless to say, she failed to secure any prize and still to her doubt might have ended up being the worst candidate to ever have walked into a debate competition.

A year passed and to her disgust, she found her name again in the debate list. Finally, when the day for the dreadful competition arrived, she entered the hall terrified but with one difference ! She was continuously going through her favorite verse in mind, “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me”. Her only prayer to God was to let her speak without any stammering for the next two minutes. To her astonishment she found herself speaking confidently for the next five minutes and was forced to end it because of time limit. Even then she had no hope of securing any prize. But to her consternation, she ended up winning the All Kerala 1st prize for Inter-school ISC debate competition!

This is the story of Ruth Susan Matthew, who today,still amazed and grateful says, “Both years after the competitions I had tears in my eyes but the God I serve was powerful enough to transform my tears of sadness to that of joy. That incident didn’t turn me into a charismatic speaker but each time I see the winning trophy in my home, I am reminded of the power of God within me who is able to do far more abundantly than I imagine. The God who is powerful enough to lift a stammering girl into the position of an all Kerala winner still lives and He is powerful enough to work wonders in your life!”