When Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden, they had it made. There were no worries or fears in the picture, and every day was a perfect day. Can you imagine? Some of us have the wrong idea about these two, supposing that they were lacking mentally and emotionally, and that’s why they made such a colossal mistake. This isn’t true. As intelligent created beings, the first couple communed with God through His Holy Spirit daily. If they had been lacking mentally and emotionally, it would not have been possible for them to fellowship with God in a meaningful way. God had given them everything that they would ever have needed, and they had the capacity to understand how blessed they were. So, in our minds, we must recognize that because they were blessed beyond measure, the magnitude of their fall was equally catastrophic beyond measure. This is the tremendous tragedy that our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, erased.
God has commanded us to live each day in gratitude for what He accomplished for us through Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, we have new life! In all the ways that count, we’ve got a new everything, and we ought to be excited to pursue God’s wonderful vision for our lives. However, some of us aren’t opening our hearts and lifting our hands in total praise of our God. Somewhere between ‘usta be’ and ‘but not anymore’, we got stuck.
Stuck is a familiar word for many of us. We know it and feel its weight keeping us at a standstill. We know we ought to be abandoning those insecurities, doubts, and old habit patterns that hold us back, but we can’t seem to shake them loose, and sometimes, we can’t exactly pinpoint which one is keeping us stuck. Teresa found herself in this space, and she’s frustrated and sad. She’s always considered herself to be an introvert, but she also knows how important it is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She doesn’t feel she has any gift to share with others, and she was confused about how she could be an ambassador for Christ.
2Corinthians 5:20(NLT) tells us, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” Teresa had always been taught that telling people about Jesus Christ was a believers responsibility to God. His Word teaches us that His purpose for our lives on earth is to imitate Christ and to tell people about his salvation and unconditional love. The commandment and commission from Christ to us is recorded in Matthew 28:19-20(The Message), “Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” This commission didn’t stop with the twelve disciples that walked with Jesus Christ while he was physically on earth. This is for all God’s children who are born again and filled with the Spirit of Christ.
The very nature of power and authority demands it to be expressed. The power and authority of Christ that we have received is great, too great to remain locked within and without an outward demonstration. Who would receive an extraordinary gift and not tell someone about it? Who, understanding that this gift can be shared, would refuse to do so? It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been on this Christian journey, if you as a believer are not sharing God’s Word, your life will seem as though it’s moving at a snail’s pace towards greater blessings. You will be stuck, and your only avenue to get unstuck is to release the power of God within you by sharing what has so freely been given to you.
Like Teresa, many of us understand our responsibility to the faith, but we feel unequipped. Teresa had tried sharing the Word with some of her friends but sometimes received hateful words for her efforts. This hurt her feelings to such a degree that she went into herself even more. In the Bible, God tells us how to handle His Word with care. In 2Timothy 2:15(ESV), He commands us to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” The way to stand approved before God is to be a workman of His Word. This means you must read and study it; this is what true disciples of Christ do. The confidence from studying the Word helps us to be bold ambassadors willing and able to explain it plainly.
We must also understand that not everyone will receive the Word of the Lord from our lips. Many will reject it, and this is one of the reasons that we must walk by the Spirit, especially when it involves witnessing to those outside our families. Just as Jesus instructed the disciples in Matthew 28:19-20, the Spirit will tell us when to share and to whom we must share the treasure of God’s Word.
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:6 that we should not give what is holy to dogs and cast our pearls to swine. He’s not demeaning animals. He’s making the distinction between humans, having the mental capacity to process the Word of God, and animals who lack that capacity. One of the realities of everyday life is that some people will attempt to treat the Word as if it is as useless to them as it would be to an animal. Jesus Christ is letting us know under no uncertain terms that the Word of God is an immeasurable treasure. As such, we must be careful to view and represent it that way. We shouldn’t cast it out like someone giving precious pearls to swine, but we should take as much care as we can to give it to those who will honor it as the priceless treasure that it is.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2Corinthians 2:1-4 not to use lofty words or try to impress people with how smart we are, because nothing is more important than the finished work of Christ through his sacrifice and resurrection. Paul tells us to rely only on the power of the Holy Spirit. He tells us in 2Corinthians 3:5 that our sufficiency and qualifications come from God, the Father, who has called us to be ambassadors of Christ. He alone has qualified us to carry forth His assignment in the earth. Don’t allow shame, insecurity, or doubt to keep you stuck. The truth sets us free, and we need to pass on that message to those that are destined to hear it from us. Study and read God’s Word as much as possible, pray for the harvest, and be ready for the opportunities God presents to be a life changing witness of His Word in the lives of others. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
“Get Unstuck in Your Life”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.