“Can I stand there?” I asked the popular seniors sitting on the infamous popular bench surrounded by a sea of preppies and jocks. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I wasn’t popular. I may have occasionally spoken to them, wasn’t their enemy, but I also, so wasn’t one of them, even if I wanted to be! It was St. Patrick’s Day of my senior year in high school-which also happened to be the day before spring break. The bell was about to ring for school to start that day.
Being too shocked at my question, the girls moved out of my way, curious what would happen next. I stood on the bench, faced the crowd, and said, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” The hallway of high schoolers went silent. I spoke about Jesus, inspired by 1 Corinthians 15. I had next to no training, had only walked with the Lord a little over a year, and yet, I had to tell others about Him!
I wish I could say I gave people the opportunity to accept Christ and half the school came to know Him, but that didn’t happen. I didn’t know how to do that or that I even should! In fact, I had a bit of a Peter moment. You know when Peter walked on water and then saw the waves, freaked out, and started to sink (Matthew 14)? I was preaching right along and noticed that everyone was listening. Most of the time in my life, I felt ignored and overlooked, not listened to. Well, once I realized as preaching that people were actually listening to me, I freaked out, like Peter. I lost my train of thought, stepped down, and left. The bell rang and everyone shuffled to their classes, most avoiding me and eye contact with me like the plague.
As I returned to my friends (in another hallway), one said I was glowing. It was Jesus. I had His Word in me, shut up in my bones, and I had to get it out (Jeremiah 20:9). I had to share it! My life had been so radically changed! I wanted others to know Him too!
That was over 20 years ago and oh how my life has changed since then. The Lord is still my Lord, but I know so much more about the Bible and about sharing my faith than I knew then. But you know what I had then that I don’t have now? A fire! After coming to know Jesus and having Him change my life, I had such a heart for people to know Him! I shouted, “God is BIG!” in large crowds of people. I preached on my college campus, which I now know is called, “open air preaching.” I saw zero success from my efforts. But at the time, it wasn’t about that. It was about obedience to the Lord to share His message to anyone who would listen.
Jeremiah, a prophet from the Bible, felt the same way. He was told to stop preaching about God, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. He said the following.
“But if I say, ‘I will not mention His Word or speak anymore in His name,’ His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).
Talk about an unsuccessful prophet! God led Jeremiah to preach His Word to a stubborn and wayward people! Did any of them listen to Jeremiah and God? I hope so. There’s always a remnant. Yet the Bible mostly shows us how the people of God refused to turn from their evil ways.
Why does any of this matter for you? Well, how fiery are you for people to know God? Hope often do you judge yourself by the success you see? If you do not see people come to know Jesus or respond positively to you, do you feel like a failure? Do you refuse to share your faith because you think it will not matter? Do you think no one’s listening? Or think it will not make a difference? If you spend time in God’s Word, you will want to share. His Word should be overflowing in your heart and come out in conversations with your kids and friends. It’s not always about seeing someone come to Christ. It’s about our obedience in sharing as Christ leads and trusting Him with the results.
I continued praying for my classmates post high school. Since then, I have seen many of them turn their lives over to Christ and live completely sold out to Him. I cannot claim credit for that, but I can praise God knowing He is always working behind the scenes. Trust Him and obey Him today. Share as He leads. Do not let His Word be shut up in your bones (Jeremiah 20:9).