Recently, I was asked to give a presentation on behalf of my local pregnancy resource center to a company looking to partner with nonprofit organizations in my community. I prepped for weeks. I made a slide show filled with statistics, facts, graphics, and great pictures. I was confident that they couldn’t say no to the pitch I had planned!
But when it was time to present, my slide show wouldn’t work. It was all I had prepared; I didn’t have notes; there was no backup plan. So it was just me and that blank screen.
Yikes! Isn’t that everyone’s greatest fear when it comes to public speaking? Even with all the preparation in the world, something can go wrong. We’re afraid of saying the wrong thing, of sounding silly, or that somehow, we’ll be left without the tools we need.
I sometimes experience these same fears when it comes to talking about Jesus. I know Jesus commissioned me to be a witness for Himself, but what if I say the wrong thing or don’t make a good enough pitch? I want to tell others the Good News, but what if I mess it up?
Thankfully, because we serve a good God, He has not given us this commission without the key to fulfilling it! We don’t have to rely on our ability when bearing witness. We don’t have to depend on a slide show presentation or any other earthly thing.
Before His Ascension, Jesus said,
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NLT).
In addition to the command to be His witnesses, Christ promised that He will never leave us standing unprepared or empty-handed when sharing our testimonies. He made similar promises in John 14:16-17 and Luke 24:49. Jesus promised us something infinitely more reliable than a slide show presentation; He promised us the power of the Holy Spirit!
Paul knew this truth and expressed it in 1 Corinthians 2:4,
“My message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Christ has already equipped us to be His witnesses by the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t need a fancy presentation or a long speech full of big words. The power of our testimony is not dependent on us but our never-failing God!
May these promises encourage and empower us to be witnesses to a world that is in desperate need of the hope of Jesus Christ. We can depend on the power of the Holy Spirit as promised to us in the Word of the Lord!
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