Mastering stage fright is the first major hurdle if you're ever going to be a singer or play an instrument on a platform. Stage fright is very real, and hinders many people from doing great things for the Lord. It grips some folks so strongly they simply cannotstand before a crowd and speak or perform. When I was younger, I experienced stage fright in a very real way, and, with the help of God, overcame it for the most part.

I began taking piano lessons in the 2nd grade. Back in the early 1970s, when I was in 2nd grade, taking piano lessons was not as common for a boy as it is today. I took a lot of kidding from my male friends aboutit. But I hung in there for three years. After the first year or so,my teacherdecided to hold a recital at a local school where all her students would perform.

My Mom dressed me up in a little blue suitand drove me down to the school to perform. Oh, man, I was a nervous wreck. I had practiced and practiced this little classicalpiece so much that I could play it in my sleep, but I was terrified of the crowd and of the idea of playing on a stage. As fortune would have it, I was to play late in the program, which gave me plenty of time to sweat it out and think about it. Waiting so late in the recital was like calling two consecutive timeouts in basketball to give the freethrow shooter time to think about his shot.. By the time they called my name to come up and play, I was trying to hold it together on the outside, but inside I was torn all to pieces after having ample time to consider the myriad of possibilities.

Something happened to me that night that has occurredmany times over the years. I sat down on the bench and totally blanked out about the song....I could remember how to start the thing, but knew I was sunk after the first few notes. So I sat down and began playing. But then something marvellousoccurred; as I played, each upcoming segment of the song materialized through the end of my fingers, and I made it through the whole song. I remember the unbelievable feeling of relief when I returned to my seat. But man, that stage fright leading up to the performance was pure murder.

I remember when I first began playing publicly in church on a regular basis. I was probably 14 or so. My Dad, the great man of God, Handley Milby,would preach a sermon then call on meto back him up on thepiano while he sang after his message. I wasnervous, but I made it through each time, and these experiences weren't anywhere near as traumatic as the recital had been. After several years of playing for my Dad, I began to get comfortable in that role.

Looking back, it's amazinghow God incrementally brought me along and taught me as Igot older. When I started dating Kathy, we went to a small country church, and one particular family group would come up to sing during the service quite often. They usually asked me to play the piano for them. A lot of the time, I would not have ever heard the song they would want to sing. They'd say, "Just find the key and play along". This was both terrifying and wonderful all at the same time. It was a valuable learning experience. It seems like the song would always be in F sharp or B or E or another of those keys piano players do not like to play in. One of them would begin singing, then I would fumble around and find the proper key and try to hear the melody of the song. I was forced by the situation to determine where they were going next with the tune and find the proper rhythm.

So by the time our family began singing in church, I was very much at ease (most of the time) playing piano live in front of a crowd of about any size. The one thing I wasnot at ease about was speaking publicly in front of a crowd. I remember when our family really began to get busy singing in the autumn of 2005... I was distraught over having to talk from the platform. I did the only thing I knew to do about it, and that was to bring my concerns before God through prayer. I asked Him to help me with the stage fright I was dealing with. I was at the point where I would dread going out to sing because of the trauma of speaking in front of a crowd.

Almost immediately after I prayed about it, God began to give me peace and comfort in speaking to crowds of people. It was a supernatural thing. Suddenly I was at ease as I spoke about our music and our family and the Lord in front of a crowd. I no longer dreaded going to sing because of a fear of man.

For some reason, I have felt inclined to share these experiences with you. Maybe someone out there is dealing with the fear of standing in front of a crowd speaking or playing. Maybe you're not even involved in gospel music, but you have to perform or speak to a crowd of people andare burdened by the weights of stage fright. These fears are real, but I can promise you that they can be overcome through Jesus, just like any other problem that you or I face.

I still get what I'd call butterflies at times just before we go up to sing and share with folks, but that's really about all it amounts to nowadays. Usually after five minutes on the platform Iam very much at ease and very much resting in the assurance that we are doing what God hasordained us to do. I want to encourage those of you who struggle with this issue that there two ways I have dealt withstage fright. First, if your fear is of speaking, speak every chance you get; if it's singing, sing as often as you can. The repetition of doing it over and over ultimately will begin to wipe out those fears. Secondly, and most importantly, talk to God about it and He will remove your anxiety and increase your skill if it is His will.

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