The Lord gave us not only our various gifts, but also our personalities. I wonder sometimes why He urges me to pass on burdens He has given me to others. Because here is the thing, I am not one that sugar coats a message, I just lay it out there. I am prayerful before doing so, but the Lord knows I won’t lace a message with honey. I’m not one that you will think I’m being sweet and then later wonder why you are walking away bleeding. I will be mostly blunt, but I do try to also show the compassion I feel, but I’m not always successful in showing that. This morning I am second-guessing a message I have given in the last 48 hours. Was I kind? Was I truthful? Was I obedient in giving the message the Holy Spirit prompted me to give? Would it have been better to just pray and hope for the best?

I am reminded that we aren’t called to sit on the sidelines, we are called to speak God’s truth, His Word, in the power of the Holy Spirit. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” (2 Tim. 1:7) I know that my second guessing is not coming from the Holy Spirit. I stepped out in faith and in His power and delivered a message. He called me to do this, not because I am an eloquent speaker or writer, but because I don’t sugar coat a message.

God’s Word doesn’t always make us feel good. “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12) So while I realize that some feelings may have been hurt, I know the message I gave is the message the Holy Spirit wanted me to give. The results are not my responsibility, that is left up to the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of the receivers of the message. “When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11)

In my Bible study this morning, I was drawn to the following passage: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:8-13)

The Sanhedrin was against Peter and John giving the Word of Jesus Christ. They had Him killed, hoping that His message would stop with His death. But Peter and John boldly proclaimed the message of Christ, even though they were unschooled, ordinary men. Their power obviously did not come from themselves, they were proclaiming the gospel message in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit used their unique style to proclaim the message of Christ: “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly”.

This morning I am thanking the Lord for using me in this way. I may not be liked or appreciated by the people, but that’s not supposed to be our goal, our mission. We are to boldly proclaim God’s Word, and be obedient in giving His message. I didn’t talk about the “problem” to others, I didn’t slander anyone, I took the message to the people I was urged to take the message to. The Holy Spirit equipped me with the Word of God and His power to deliver the message. I most probably was used because of my style of “getting right down to the message”. I have been obedient, and I will not listen to the “feelings” the enemy is trying to put on me. I am a child of God, the one true king, and the enemy has no authority here. Maybe I won’t be liked for giving my message, but that’s okay. I’m not trying to lay up treasure here on earth. Please keep me in your prayers.