Freak or speak?
How many times have I been in the perfect position to share my faith, but didn’t because I was scared? We are all sometimes afraid of telling our friends about Christ because we don’t know what the outcome will be.
What if they laugh in your face, or think you’re a freak? Although my own friends accept me as a Christian, they run away as soon as I try to make it personal to them. The thing to remember is that we’re not in this alone.
When the Lord told Moses to go and speak to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, he got freaked too. ‘What if they won’t believe me or listen to what I say? What if they say, “The Lord never appeared to you”?’ (Exodus 4:1). But the Lord went with him and Moses finished up by leading three million people out of slavery – even though he wasn’t good with words (Exodus 4:10).
The Lord tells us not to fear, for he is with us. ‘Is it not I who makes you speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or do not see? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say’ (Exodus 4:11). If God could help a man like Moses, surely he can help us connect with our friends.
But even though we know this, we still have to battle with our fear. It’s a hard thing to deal with, so in the meantime we should pray for help and try to show our love for Jesus through our attitude and actions. As someone once said: ‘There are 99 people in a room, one with a Bible. The one with the Bible reads it, and the others read him or her’.
Joana Page
