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"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
The definition of witness is to have knowledge from personal observation or experience. When I think of witness, I remember someone in the church I grew up in. He did the sermon one day and it was about his experience of God transforming his life from a drug addiction. It was really amazing to see how God had worked through his life.
I, however, was fortunate to grow up in church and never swayed too far away in life. I have always been reserved and have not been a risk taker. When people want me to write a Lent devotion (that is what happens when your husband becomes the communications committee lead) or speak about my life experiences of God, I often think of my Grandma. She played the piano/organ for church from a teenager into her 80s and her favorite song was Take My Hand, Precious Lord - "Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, let me stand." I think please help me God and take my hand because I do not have anything amazing to say. My life is boring. I do not have a lot of dramatic moments.
One thing I have learned over time though is that we do not all need to have an epiphany in our life to share the love of Christ with others. We do not always need to get right into everyone's face and yell that we love Jesus. They can see it through our actions. As we get to know other people, we can slowly open up and mention that we attend church. We can slowly open up about our faith. While some people have dramatic changes, there are a lot of us who go through life with gradual changes and we can talk about those small things as well. It is important for us all to get more comfortable in sharing because we all learn from witnesses.
Please pray: Give me a courageous and willing spirit so that I can become a witness for others and do your will. Amen.
About Melissa Hall
Melissa has attended St. Thomas since 2017. Her husband, Nathan, is the communications committee lead. They have a 5-year-old daughter named Everly. Outside of church, she is a software developer and likes to walk/jog.