Today’s Reading is 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
I hear Paul saying we don’t need to be practiced or perfect before we’re willing to proclaim the Word to people. We just have to come “real” to people we meet and witness to them sharing our story. When we try to be perfect before being available for God to use us we rob others from the opportunity to hear His word. We just need to proclaim the love of God demonstrated by sending Christ to die for our sins so that we may have everlasting life. We don’t have to read a bunch of books or take lots of college courses to be prepared. The only preparation we need is having faith that God put us in the situation to share our story and that the Holy Spirit will guide our words and actions as we share our testimony. This faith also allows us to open ourselves to tell things that we may have never told anyone.
We also rob ourselves of the opportunity to let the Holy Spirit work through us and witness what God can do when we give him the reins of our life. When we see the Spirit work in our lives it helps to strengthen our faith in the Lord. I believe this is why you hear people say that it was more powerful for them to witness to someone than for the person receiving. Unfortunately, as humans we like to be reassured that God really does exist. We know he does, we believe he does, but it’s always nice when you actually “see” it happen. It doesn’t mean we’re any less faithful, even Thomas wanted to see the wounds of Christ before he believed that Christ actually returned.
So the next time you’re in the position to share the Lord with someone, remember, you’re not alone. Say a small prayer, be humble and jump off that cliff knowing that God will be there through it all guiding and directing you.
dave