Exodus 4-6
Key Passages/Thoughts:
Ex 4:10-12 - "But Moses replied to the Lord, 'Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.' The Lord said to him, 'Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.'"
I have to be honest...I've used the same excuse that Moses did. I have said numerous times to numerous people that I'm "not good at talking to someone about my faith...I'm more of a lifestyle evangelist." As I get older, I realize what load of junk that is. In my opinion, if you can't talk to someone else about your relationship with God, then you need to question your relationship with God. There was a time in my life where I felt more comfortable standing up and talking to 2,500 people than talking with one person. God began to show me that it's was lot easier to hide my broken relationship with Him from a stage than from a personal conversation. When I came to that realization, it was painful. Why? I had to come to grips with the fact that I didn't have much of a relationship with my Heavenly Father. God had to remind me of what drew me near to Him to begin with. In reality, when God brought me to this point, all of my relationships were strained (marriage, kids, friends). The reason was because I was putting up a facade of what I wanted people to think about me. During this time, it's easy to see why I wasn't comfortable talking to someone about God, because all the things I knew about Him at this point were facts and nothing about a relationship. It's uncomfortable to talk to someone about something you don't know much or anything about.
Let's fast forward a bit. Now, I have no problem talking to one person or thousands of people about my relationship with God. Why? Because I have one! When I hear people make this same excuse Moses did (and I did), I begin to pray for their relationship. Once God rekindles the flame He lit inside you, it's hard to NOT share it with someone. It has never been easier to talk to someone about my faith because that's all I know. In the past, it was just a small compartment of my life. Now, it IS my life! There is no part of my life that God hasn't infiltrated. It's interesting to be on the other side of this excuse now. As I look back, I begin to realize that "lifestyle evangelism," while important, is just a ploy Satan uses to con people into thinking that they are living for God. During my "lifestyle evangelism" phase, I never felt more empty and useless. Before I get raked over the coals about "lifestyle evangelism," let me say that my lifestyle should most definitely reflect God's ideals. However, my lifestyle should be an outpouring of the convictions God has revealed to me in my relationship with Him. Otherwise, I am just giving in to "positive" peer pressure. In other words, if I see another "Christian" person doing something, then I should do it, too, because that's what a "Christian" should do. The other side of that coin is that I am in constant conversation and relationship with God. God convicts of something I'm doing or not doing in my life and I make necessary changes to alleviate that problem. Which do you think would promote a conversation about what God is doing in my life? Which would I feel more comfortable talking about? I've found that the reason it is easy to speak now is because the Spirit is speaking through me. I am no longer "trying to say the right thing." It takes all the pressure off of me when I rely on God to speak through me.
God, continue to give me the courage and desire to spread Your name and Your glory through the things You've done in my life. Give me opportunities to speak with boldness and conviction.
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