When it comes to weaknesses, I often consider my ongoing shyness to be my greatest. As a child, I hid behind my mother’s skirts as I was introduced to new friends. As time went on, my fears continued to haunt me, although, of necessity, I gained a little courage with attendance at school and when I found several good friends.
This characteristic has naturally affected my life as a Christian, as well. I consider my regular confession during prayer time to be my lack of boldness in witness. This is the primary job of a Chirstian from what I’ve deduced from Scripture. In all my seventy-nine years of life, some forty years as a believer, I have yet to bring a soul into the Kingdom, to my knowledge. What a sad epitaph.
And yet, maybe not a total failure. I remember a verse about planting seeds of the gospel while others water, and yet others harvest. Maybe I can take comfort in performing the role of a waterer. After all, gardening is a passion of mine and I enjoy watching the impact of my efforts in maintaining plants or growing vegetables and fruits.
A good friend encouraged me with the notion that witnessing styles can take many forms. In the last few months, I’ve been asking the Lord to bring someone to sit near me at church so that I can talk to them, encourage them, and even pray for them. This has been answered several times and delights my soul. I may never see that person again, but the Spirit blesses me with a glow of satisfaction after our encounter. So far, the chosen young women are looking for some sort of answer to a current dilemma which has brought them there. Praise God for these anointed meetings.
The Lord also aids me in reaching out to various acquaintances with ongoing support. So maybe I’m not initiating faith, but perhaps helping to strengthen it. I guess that’s a reasonable form of sharing the gospel. It’s exciting to be used by God in this way, even though not as much as bringing someone into the Kingdom for the first time.
What’s so amazing to me is that knowing my natural shyness, God arranges to bring the person to me instead of my taking the first step towards them. He knows how we operate and kindly works it out for the good of all.
So, if you too are concerned with a lack of boldness, please realize that the Lord is more than capable of using your particular witness-style to His advantage. Perhaps in time, He will even give you more courage to share.