Saturday, September 17, 2011

Not For The Faint Of Heart

Imagine if you will that you are sitting at the front of a room and there is a crowd of teenagers asking you question after question expecting you to give them answers. Does that make you gulp? Does it make your palms go sweaty? It would most people. It certainly isn't a task for the faint of heart but it's one that I had been looking forward to for weeks because I love it when people are hungry for knowledge.


 I had been asked to be the guest speaker for our youth group. When I asked what they would like me to speak on, I was told that they would like to be able to ask me questions they had. So I went into this blind, not knowing what types of questions I would be asked or if I would have the answers. I sat at the front of the room in the hot seat while each teenager wrote their questions on file cards and placed them in the bucket.


 I told them that this was their chance to ask anything on any subject and they didn't have to be embarrassed because I didn't know their handwriting and the questions asked would be anonymous. Most of the questions were serious: What is adultery?, Are tattoos wrong?, Is it wrong to date someone of a different religion?, Are ghosts real? etc. But there were two questions which were obviously from the same person and they were just silly: Will you sing Jesus Loves Me to us right now? (which I did because I wanted her to realize that I was taking this seriously even if she wasn't) and Is it alright for me to jump off a high wall into the grass? (equally a waste of a question). 


This girl wasted her chance to get an answer to a question she might have had, just to be silly and gain attention. But for the most part the questions were really good and the group sincerely wanted to learn. Going into this I worried that I wouldn't be able to answer their questions but the Lord reminded me of the Scripture which says "do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:19-20


Whether it is sharing our faith with another or answering questions from hungry hearts, if we rely on God to give us wisdom and the words to say, He will. Before I went into that forum, I prayed and that's a good first step for any endeavour. I knew what the Word had to say on most subjects and I knew I had God on my side. I was as ready as I ever would be


Serving God is not for the faint of heart. There are challenges every day and we live in an ever changing world with contrary values and morals being pushed our way. But we have our Compass, the Word of God, and we have a Captain of our ship, Jesus Christ, on our side so if we follow after Him, He will direct us and give us the courage we need when we need it most. 


Proverbs 14:6 The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
Proverbs 15:14 The discerning heart seekknowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

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