{"id":5283,"date":"2018-04-05T13:17:01","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T18:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=5283"},"modified":"2018-04-05T13:17:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T18:17:01","slug":"crazy-reasons-for-not-having-important-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2018\/04\/crazy-reasons-for-not-having-important-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Crazy Reasons for Not Having Important Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m constantly amazed at the reasons people give for not having important conversations. They hold back for fear they\u2019ll be misunderstood or because they think they don\u2019t know enough to share about Jesus.
\nThis is pride in disguise.<\/strong>
\nIf you do this, you\u2019re doing one of three things:
\n1. You\u2019re giving yourself too much credit<\/strong> for convincing others about Jesus.
\n2. You\u2019re not thinking enough of God.<\/strong>
\n3. You are not trusting that God<\/strong> will use you just as you are, with whatever words come from your mouth.
\nThe best way to get over pride and insecurity is to allow ourselves to be moved by love and compassion, just as Jesus was. To focus on the other person. To speak out of a heart that genuinely cares. And then trust God to take care of the rest.
\nGod is big–and we’re his “surprise factor”!<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve spent much of the last twelve years telling my life telling stories in written or spoken form. Not because they\u2019re so great or because I\u2019m so cool, but because they show how big God is. Those who know me\u2014I mean really know me\u2014are amazed that God could do what he\u2019s done through me. And I\u2019m amazed that God could do what he\u2019s done through me. I\u2019m serious. I\u2019m a small-town country boy from Nebraska. Graduated high school tenth in a class of twenty. I went to a small college and got a simple BA in history. The most important man I knew was my dad, and he was the pastor of a church in a small town. I never knew a mayor or a congressman or a rich person. I never could have imagined doing what I do now. I just wanted to hunt and fish and go camping on the weekends.
\nYet I\u2019ve discovered that God is big<\/strong>. And that he likes using people like me. And you. We\u2019re his surprise factor<\/strong>. We\u2019re the small hidden thing that his Kingdom emerges from. The little stone that becomes a pearl in his hand. The yeast that spreads to the whole lump of dough. Small and insignificant, until we\u2019re touched by God\u2019s Spirit. Then watch out.
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