“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the mystery of God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.” I Corinthians 2: 1-5

This morning, as my mind went over again what I am going to say, for I have rewritten and rewritten it many times, I knew that it was pretty much done. I can keep rewriting until the morning I stand in front of the ladies, but what is needed more than anything is the power of God, not more polishing of words.

Every Christian public speaker goes through this process; it is just a new phenomenon for me. But it is actually the same principle for whatever we do with the Lord: though we do our very best, ultimately what has to happen is God must move through our words and actions to effect his purposes.

Water to wine.

So here I found myself this morning, looking up the passage above. “Weakness, fear, much trembling”? Check. I am in good company there. “No wise and persuasive words”? Check. I’ve never been able to convince by my powers of persuasion!

“Demonstration of the Spirit’s power”? That is definitely what I need! It is up to the Lord—though  I continue to look to him for the words and the strength to say the words—to move with the power which is beyond me, to turn the ‘water’ of my words into the ‘wine’ of life in the hearers.

Next Thursday, May 16, I will be speaking to a group of ladies from the neighborhoods of South East Bakersfield, the area of town with the worst reputation: the most poverty, gangs, drugs and crime. The MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) Park next to the building we will be in is a local hangout for homeless people and drug dealers.

The wife of the couple starting a church in the area holds a Thursday morning ladies’ Bible study there each week, and once a month the church I attend hosts a breakfast for these and others ladies invited from the neighborhood. A speaker is invited to come each month and this month… I will be the speaker.

I, of course, was hesitant when asked a few weeks ago if I would speak to the group of ladies this month. I said I’d pray about it (that’s always a smart start). I thought, maybe I can get Randy to share the podium with me. Nothing doing. He thinks I should step up and take the opportunity since I have a message and God has given me more strength. Ok. I agree, but public speaking!

In Bible college they taught us to be ready to “Preach, pray, sing or die at a moment’s notice”. I pretty much deferred to the guys on that one….well, here I go.

Ok, Lord. This is not something I feel competent to do, but others think otherwise, and a door of opportunity has opened. I cast myself on the mercies of the Lord!

Actually, I feel God has given me something to say; I had it forming in my mind before I even knew I’d say yes. I may have a racing heart when I get up to stand before the ladies next Thursday, but I am trusting God to help me, and keep my kneecaps firmly in place. I truly believe the word God said, ‘my strength is made perfect in (your) weakness ‘. I’ve lived at that address for a very long time.

His strength is just what I desire. I want God to powerfully work in the lives of these ladies whose lives are hard, filled with things I cannot imagine, struggling to live day after day with odds stacked against them.

Their hope is the same as my hope. Our one and only hope is Jesus Christ. I have met the God of hope and now I will try to tell others where to meet him too.

It is Jesus I intend to point them to; to call them to give their lives wholeheartedly to God, to love and serve him with all their hearts.

Will you pray for me?

For those ladies?

For spiritual barriers and defenses to be torn down?

Will you pray that God have unhindered access to each of us, for his eternal purposes? Will you pray for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it….for the Lord gives….” Psalm 127: 1, 2

Unless the Lord speaks through me, I speak in vain…for the Lord gives life, not my words alone. But my words must be spoken so the Lord can give life to the hearers of his good news.

Blest are the feet of those who bring good news…even in the central valley.