I’m fond of pointing out that I am the shiest person ever. Of course, no one believes me because, by the grace of God, I am able to live above my shyness. Moses tried to get out of leading the Lord’s people because he claimed he could not talk. Was he just lying? I think not. He probably did have trouble talking.
What he was forgetting is that God made his mouth and could not only help him deal with his shyness but turn it into a strength. In Acts 7:22 we read that he was mighty in words. He was inspired to write the first five books of the Bible. Obviously he wound up being a great talker.
I have people come to group all the time and say, “It’s great that the rest of you are such natural talkers, but I’m just too shy, this is not my thing.” I point out that NONE of us are used to talking about anything at all and especially about anything important or real in a group setting. We might open up to one person; a parent, teacher, best friend, pastor, counselor—but a group? Still, when they start to focus on the contributions and needs of others, when they remember that there are NO trials that they are facing that others don’t face as well; then they find grace to overcome their shyness and speak up.
To put it bluntly, if God gives me something to share with others and because of my shyness I don’t speak up, then I am saying, “I don’t care about your needs or about letting God bless you through me–avoiding my temporary discomfort is more important than ministering to you. Personally I’ve found that if I lend my mind and mouth to the Holy Spirit, I find myself talking to people I wouldn’t talk to about things I do not have the courage to say and in places I would not normally speak out at. He is quite the talker! After all, another name for Jesus is Logos or the word or perhaps even more accurately THE WORDS.
Luke 9:26/Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed! Oh! I think, I’m not ashamed of Him or his words but of myself. Kind of like Moses, huh? I need to focus on the wonder of his words and the needs of others and not on what they might think of me. If I worry that my poor delivery could jeopardize the important task, I need to rember that the Holy Spirit can not only take my feeble prayers and translate them but can take my imperfect words and bless others with them. I have often had people tell me that something that I had said was helpful, but I don’t remember saying it. The Holy Spirit had take my effort and translated it to their soul.
So, my shy friend, I praise God for the grace to overcome my shy behavior. Can you imagine the loss if I had spent my entire life keeping all the thoughts He has entrusted to me to myself? He will love to take over your mouth as well if you ask him.
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