I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11 NLT
When I was in the Broadway revival of Grease, I was often called upon to perform the leading roles of Marty, Patty Simcox, and Ms. Lynch with little to no warning. In fact, I performed these roles numerous times in my tenure with the show. Once the show opened, it was my responsibility to stay rehearsed, especially since formal rehearsals had ceased. I carried around a four-inch-thick notebook at all times, and many nights I stood in the wings and marked (went through) all of my characters’ choreography. Carrying three roles (plus the one I performed regularly) around in your head required a truckload of rehearsal. And when I got the call that I was on in a particular role, I came in an hour before everyone else to an empty theater and “rehearsed” my show in the dim work lights.
Rehearsal stems from an archaic French word that means “to repeat.” In a very real sense, actors are what they repeat. What they do over and over again. What they rehearse. What they hide inside.
As believers, we are also what we rehearse — and what we repeat day after day. There is undeniable potency in holy repetition, and I for one have deep need for it. If we rehearse the truth that we are indeed the beloved of God, then when circumstances challenge that immutable truth, like an actor, muscle memory will take over. The truth will rise. The lie will sink.
What we have rehearsed on our best days will be true on our worst.
And what we have rehearsed in the dark will be true in the light.
Allison Allen appears on LIFE TODAY this Monday. This is an excerpt from Shine: Stepping Into The Role You Were Made For by Allison Allen. Copyright ©2017 by Storyboard, LLC. Published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Used by permission.
