Picture this. A seventeen year old girl, away from her family for the first time, the hottest she’s ever been, standing on a stage under a huge big top, practicing bible quizzing in front of the biggest crowd of teenagers she’s ever seen. (She doesn’t get out much) Her number has been called out, she has the honor of reciting one out of the seven verses she’s already memorized that week. Ephesians 2:8-9. So simple. But when she opens her mouth, all that comes out is a stammer,
“Ephesians 2:8 and…and…9…for…for as…sorry…for…I can’t…”
She is shaking all the way down to her wet, muddy boots, and as soon as she’s been dismissed, she’s back in her folding chair, crying in shame and crushing defeat. She’s a failure.
Not a good day. Not a good start to a missions trip. But there’s always always hope.
After my failure on stage at Teen Missions Boot Camp, I was sure that my feeling of defeat would last through the summer. How could I share the hope within me, if I couldn’t even say a verse that I knew that I knew? But words carry a special power, and my Father can use anyone to speak through someone’s pain.
I was crying in my chair, the gross, sweaty kind of tears that you can’t wipe off, (Pretty much any FTM knows what I mean) when a young man who had been on that same stage came up to me. To my enduring shame, I don’t know his name. I probably wouldn’t even recognize him outside of boot camp, and I don’t remember exactly what he said. (So, young man, if you are by some chance-in-a-million reading this, please feel free to correct me!) But I know that he told me that I was braver than I imagined. He said that he was too afraid to stand up and chance failing, while even though I failed, I had the courage to try, and that he and everyone else respected that.
That was two years ago. I still hear his voice, and thank my Father for the willingness he had to step out of his comfort zone and console a shaking girl he didn’t even know, who never spoke to him again.
My point is, you NEVER know the impact your words could have on someone. I’m sure you could list off time after time that someone’s words have driven a knife into your heart, or lifted you up and helped you to see things in a new light. Words are a gift. Those moments when you feel the Holy Spirit pushing you to talk to someone, that is a gift. Don’t brush it off, because while it might feel awkward, so much joy can come of it. Who knows, you might have somebody pray for you for years, not even knowing your name, just because of a few maybe uncomfotable sentences. (Also, it’s super bad to quench the Spirit, but that’s a whole different post!)
Trust me. It’s worth it.
