Musings: 6/13/08; Speaking for God. by JAH

I've always thought it would be a wonderful thing to speak for God, but not unless He told me to speak, and not unless He told me what to speak. I experienced a life-changing instant in the early spring of 1947.

A group of sailors, and a marine or two visited a Brethren church in the Long Beach, California area for their evening service. Charles Beatty, a Director of the Christian Service Organization in Long Beach, led the group. He allowed time for all of us who desired to give a word of testimony, or quote a favorite verse of Scripture to do so.

I had a problem. I suffered stage fright in high school and was unable to make my little Boy Scout speech about the 127 pounds of aluminum we collected for the war effort. Our superintendent rescued me and gave the speech. I had memorized it, and at his instruction thrown my copy away. He wrote it, so he gave it easily, but after that I could never stand in front of anybody and do anything where I was the focal point.

After all the others had given their testimonies and repeated their verses, Charlie stood up to preach. I had praying, asking the Lord to strengthen me so that I could testify for Him. Charlie was about to pray when suddenly I felt that I would explode if I didn't stand up and speak! But it was too late! Charlie began to pray, and I continued to feel like an explosion was coming! He closed his prayer and said, "Folks, I've never done this before, but as I prayed, the Lord spoke to me and told me to call on another sailor to speak." He turned and beckoned me to come forward. I rushed from the choir loft to the pulpit, and I poured out my heart for the Lord. As I remember, there wasn't time for Charlie to speak. He gave an invitation for people to accept Christ. We had prayer and returned to the CSO in Long Beach.

At that time, I did not understand that the Lord was both answering my prayer and calling me to a lifetime of service. I prayed about it for weeks while I was watching radar scan the horizon for ships or the sky for planes, or was just goofing off with my shipmates, and I finally knew the answer because I have never lost the inner compulsion to share Jesus and God's written word with others.

Speaking for God is a very serious thing. Almost the last item in the Bible, Revelation 22:18,19, says, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."

If He tells us that to add or subtract a word from His writings will bare such terrible fruit, how do you think our God will react to someone making fun of His Word? What do you think will happen to someone who fakes a word from God? Is it Godly for anyone to write as if God Himself was speaking? Judge for yourself. I've already decided that I want no part of any of that!

I want and expect to be a person of prayer. I want to fulfill my own personal calling to deliver God's Word as accurately and as perfectly as I can while bathing it in the love God has given me for others.

I Corinthians 1:27- 29 says, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." Those verses are humbling to anyone called by God, and that definitely includes me.

The point could be fully discussed, but it is very simple in my mind. If God does not direct you to speak for Him, it would be a good idea not to do it. Witnessing the saving power of Jesus Christ is excluded from that, but we are always in danger of using God's Name in vain, and of adding to or subtracting from the truth!