God, My Silence Isn’t So Golden….
By: Jim H. Yohe

I have no excuse.

There has never been more gospel available than now. There are more tracts, books, cassettes, videos, seminars and conferences on prayer, witnessing, studying or fasting than ever before. But…

Am I praying? Witnessing? Studying? Fasting? My office is overflowing with the latest from the greatest, but will it ever get read, listened to, or watched? Will these embers from the flames of revelation ever be put into personal action? Will they ever become like fire shut up in my bones? Or will they continue gathering dust, poignant testimonies to lost opportunity.

I have an innate fear of simply opening my mouth. I can hand ’em a tract, slip ’em a business card, invite ’em to the church’s chili supper, but why can’t I open my mouth and witness?

I can testify boldly to fellow Christians about the new life in Christ Jesus! But do I really believe that? Do my actions show it? An abundance of preaching about soul winning exists, but very few people teaching us how to win souls. Like many others, I talk about it, but don’t do it. Do people teach by example anymore?

Am I so intimidated by worldwide evangelical and charismatic ministries that I can’t simply reach for one soul” Does everything have to be an event? Does every Christian effort have to have an entertainment aspect? Have I quit racing the rapture until He comes? Have I just resigned myself to ” When He gets here, He gets here!” God, you know that I would never say that, but what do my actions reveal?

God, may the same urgency I would have in saving a child from an approaching car fill my heart when I reach for a soul! Let the same sense of impending doom hit me when I took into the face of a lost man
or woman! Give me the same determination to save souls, as I would have in rescuing my family from a burning house. When I remain silent, fill me with the same sense of shame that would fill the heart of a
passerby who did nothing to help.

God, I need more heart. That intangible quality that carries us through until the prize is won- heart like a verb. What Jesus had in the wilderness when He turned down the Devil’s menu-, in the garden when He prayed; at the whipping post when He purchased our healing-, on the cross where He shed his blood for our salvation. Heart so strong that it keeps on beating though human indifference. Let me echo the
quiet prayer of Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision. “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God ” Let me press through the awkwardness of that first initial contact, and become a true witness unto His majesty. I’ve learned that theological arguments rarely win souls, but my testimony of a changed life can. Along with giving me a determined heart, give me the courage to open my mouth and
speak the truth to the lost.

God, my silence isn’t so golden.

THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LOUISIANA CHALLENGER, VOL. 41 NO. 3, BY JIM H. YOHE.

THIS MATERIAL MAY BE USED FOR STUDY AND RESEARCHPURPOSES ONLY.