Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.   II Corinthians 5:20

By Stacy Villalva

“Does anyone believe Jesus is coming back again?”

You’re sitting in your class of five-hundred plus students.

You weren’t expecting this question from your professor, and neither was anyone else.

It has nothing to do with the lecture, nothing to do with the class, but he asks it anyway and apparently expects an answer.

The students nervously glance at each other, trying to decide what the teacher could possibly mean by throwing this question into the mix all of a sudden.

All at once you know this is your chance! Your perfect opportunity to witness to everyone in the classroom.

But…

What if you say the wrong thing? What if you just might possibly get laughed at?

But…

What if what you say may be exactly what God wants you to say?

You tap your pencil on the desk and clench your teeth.

Your breathing becomes heavy. Your head becomes foggy.

You’re trying so desperately to get your hand in the air, to be an ambassador for Christ and share His message. But your arm weighs a ton.

Time becomes immeasurable. Has it been seconds, minutes or hours since he asked that question? Is it too late to answer?

The professor smiles, almost in triumph.

This is it. This is the time.

You shut your eyes and raise a shaky hand.

The professor stops pacing and stares at you.

You feel his eyes upon you, and countless eyes now pierce you from all sides as everyone turns and stares along with him.

You hand begins to drop, when all of a sudden the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

You feel strength that you hadn’t felt before. A sense of calm washes over you and you know – you know – that God is with you and that He’ll give you the words to say.

All at once, there is nothing to fear.

Then, one by one, other students begin to raise their hands as well.

And in that moment, you realize they had all been waiting for someone to take a stand.

Where do you find yourself in this scenario?

Are you that student who made a stand or are you the one waiting for someone else to do it before you?

In II Corinthians 5:15-20 God calls us to be His ambassadors and to share His message. It’s not always easy. It can be downright difficult to stand and say something that you know for certain not everyone agrees with.

It’s intimidating to think that you might be laughed at or that you might, just might be the only one that takes that stand… and that you’ll be standing alone.

But what we need to remember and completely believe is that we are not alone.

We are never alone, ever. Because God is with us always.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it – especially when everyone is staring at you, or when no one else is making a move to stand with you or to do anything.

But the fact is He is there. He’s never left your side.

He’s just waiting for you to do something so that He can use you.

As he tells us in Matthew 10:19-20, “Do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak: for it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Don’t you want your life to count?

Don’t you want to meet your Maker and your Father and be able to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? I know I do. I want Him to say that more than anything.

Jesus gave His all for us. He gave His life for us!

He was mocked, beaten and bruised and not once did He count the cost. Not once did He say we were not worth it.

He could’ve used all the excuses in the world not to go through what He went through.

He could’ve said, “Everyone will be looking at Me. They’ll think I’m weird. I won’t fit in. I don’t know what to say or do.”

But He didn’t. He knew what He was doing, and He did it with all the love within Him. How much more should we do for Him who loved us?

How much more should we take advantage of every opportunity to share His love with everyone around us?

There are people out there just waiting. Waiting for someone to say something, to take that stand and be an ambassador for Christ.

And you never know whose life you will be touching; whose life you’ll be impacting.

It could be a future pastor or pastor’s wife! You’ll never know until you try.

How many testimonies have we heard from people who got saved because someone took a stand? Those testimonies are true. God is true.

Don’t be afraid when a situation like this comes up again. God is with you.

We read in Hebrews 13:5-6, “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you,’ so that we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

He’ll give you the words to say.

Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let Him have control.