Fear of Man or Fear of God

A trip to the mall and the opportunity to speak of the Lord Jesus with at least half a dozen people. This was a challenge that surely made me tremble with fear.

Fear of men.
What will they think of me?
Will they yell at me?
Will they call me crazy?
Will they think that I'm weird?

These were the thoughts that ran through my head as I paced the mall. I often found myself with opportunities, I thought the Lord God had presented me with, yet I was too fearful to act. I had to sit several times and pray that the Holy Spirit would guide me to the right person, someone who has been thinking of spiritual things, and that when I was bold enough, empowered by the same Spirit, I would start a conversation with this person.

Even as I left the mall as it was about to close, I felt defeated and thought maybe the person I that is open will be in the parking lot. I got in the car and started driving away and I saw a girl waiting outside the mall, who I thought I could have talked to earlier.

I went and parked again, and went up and started talking with her. It turned out that she was a Jehovah's Witness and some of her beliefs made it very difficult to have a conversation with her. I even had a NT with me and although I know that there are verses I can show her that contradict with her beliefs, I do not know them by book and verse and could not show them to her.

The conversation was friendly and I know that at least if she was not thinking hard about what she believes, she was reminded of the eternal consequences of death, without forgiveness for sins and an eternity apart from God.

This experience, as all of the times where I talk with people about spiritual things, was a growing experience for me. I am convicted that I need to work on memory verses, in order to know God's wisdom for my own life, but more importantly, to impact the lives of others.

My prayer for the future is that I would continue to develop a fear of God and think more of what he thinks of what I do with the opportunities presented in front of me, than what others think of me.

-Matt B.