When there are no words, trust the Spirit

14 July 2023 Reflection

“When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” - Matthew 10:19-20

Statistics show that there is a high number of people who have an irrational fear of public speaking. This is a pretty understandable kind of fear, as it takes lots of courage and confidence to be able to seamlessly speak in front of a listening, sometimes scrutinizing, crowd.

Nowadays, speaking coaches help people to overcome their fear and gain skills to speak effortlessly in public. Different tools and strategies are given to assist a person and equip him with confidence to be master in the art of speaking.

Now, imagine Jesus’ disciples when He tasked them to go out and proclaim His message of the Kingdom of Heaven. Imagine the fear and worry and anxiety and confusion they might have felt that time. They did not have speaking coaches. They did not have the tools and strategies to gain the confidence they need. Almost all of them did not have public speaking experience. Most of them were even uneducated.

Yet the success of the propagation of the Christian faith was made possible because of them, through the encouragement of Jesus and the power of the Spirit of the Father, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit.

If there is a crowd that proves to be a real challenge in terms of keeping the energy and the interest high, I think that would be an all-male crowd. By sheer coincidence, I happen to belong in a ministry that does speaking engagements to an all-men audience. To say that the anxiety and the fear felt before doing any talk is very high is clearly an understatement.

I remembered the time when I was told that I will be doing my very first talk, I was beyond terrified. I did not recall any episode in my life that I experienced stage fright, but the thought of speaking by myself on a crowd of 30 or so men really worried me. Will I be able to deliver? Will I keep them engaged? These thoughts lingered in my mind for several months until the day of the talk.

After several months of struggling with anxiety and worry and revising my script several times, I asked the Holy Spirit to take over as a last resort. Lo and behold, He delivered. I was able to finish the talk in one piece, kept the audience interested all throughout the talk, and the message was delivered. In fact, as soon as I stepped back and let the Holy Spirit do the talking, it was then that His power manifested and His presence became noticeable to the audience. As one brother would remark after I finished my talk, he felt that I was ‘empowered,’ which was a clear indication of the Holy Spirit at work.

Since that day, I learned to depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance especially during times that I need to be empowered and encouraged. The beauty is that invoking His assistance is not only limited to giving talks, but rather He can be called in every aspect of life.

Confused on what decision to make regarding career or vocation or general life choices? Call upon the Holy Spirit.

Don’t know what to say to a struggling friend or brother? Call upon the Holy Spirit.

Is somebody challenging you to defend your faith? Call upon the Holy Spirit.

When there are no words to say, there the Holy Spirit is, waiting and always ready to pour His overflow of wisdom. Seek, desire, and trust Him, because with Him on our side, nothing will ever go wrong.

Dear Papa,

Blessed are You for sending forth Your Spirit to be my Companion and Guide. I thank and praise You for Your love and faithfulness.

Instill in me a heart that depends on You and desires You.

In everything that I do, may my works glorify You. In every word that I say, may my words proclaim You. In every thought that crosses my mind, may my thoughts be fully focused in You. Come Holy Spirit, reign and govern my whole being, and mould me into the person You have purposed me to be.

All these I pray in the name of Brother Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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