Thought to ponder

" ¹⁶Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:16

So if this is true, than why do I shy away from being bold before others?
I mean honestly, if God has made it so that I can approach Him with boldness, my Eternal Master, my Creator, my King, the Holy of Holies... then why I am not bold to share my faith, or reach out to someone hurting? If I believe the writer when they say, "let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace," then shouldn't it be that much more simple to go near to someone in their time of need?

Our girl's group discussed this last night and I must admit, I have been acting like a wimp. The chapter basically looked over these few things:

1. In order to help others you must first Be There, i.e., you must be at church, youth group, different ministry outings, work, the street, wherever it is that the people are! You must be present, wherever the people are, in order to help.
2. You must be Prepared to give of yourself. If I go to a church service just expecting to get something out of it, than I will be going unprepared to be a vessel that God could use to touch someone else's life. I must prepare myself before going. I must be in prayer, in the Word, looking through His eyes at the world and asking, "who Lord, needs to feel your arms of love in this moment? Who needs an encouraging word? Who needs prayer, and what do I pray?"
3. I must be Bold and willing to step outside of my comfort zone. Hurting people are sometimes hard to approach, especially if you do not know them. Instead of being afraid of rejection, a problem 'too big' for me to handle, or sitting with someone while they are vulnerable with me, I need to be bold to go to them and let Christ love them through me. I feel it is the same with seeing new people. At our church it is not very easy to pick out the newbies, (since a good number of people come to each service), but maybe if I greeted at the front door, I'd have a better chance of catching them and making them feel welcomed. Actually I think that our greeters do a great job! So maybe I don't need to go there, but after service there are always lots and lots of families just hanging out in the fellowship hall. Maybe I could strike up a conversation? This would definetly take some boldness to accomplish

So there is where I am left. Am I going to continue to hold my tongue? Am I going to continue to shy away when opportunity to share my faith arises? Am I going to wait until its a good time for me to let God have His way in my life, or am I going to let Him be my master today, right now?

I just plain don't want to be this wimpy christian anymore. I dont want to be afraid of offending someone or making a pleasant situation into an akward one. I want compassion to take the place of my standing still. I want love to take the place of fear. I want to watch Christ use me while I am alive on this earth. I want to see Him transform lives and reveal Himself to those who have yet to see Him. I want to live my life zealously for God so that when people look at me, they see the Father and want to know Him.

O Lord help me please, I don't want to be silent anymore. I don't want to hide my light under a basket. Please Father embolden me, let my heart feel the compassion you have for the hurting and lost. Please take me where you want me to go, I am Your servant and your beloved daughter. I know You will be with me wherever I am, please lead me to where You are. In your Son's Holy and precious name, Amen