“And how can they call on Him in who they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

This has always been a favorite verse of mine, so much that we had it used as the main verse (Robert and I) when we were commissioned in 1997 to be missionaries to the Native Americans in Denver. And that’s the context I have usually seen this verse used in, as a “sending out” verse for anyone in evangelistic ministry. But the other day, God gave me a new reason to love it and appreciate it.

A lady came through the drive thru, and I was having difficulty understanding her because she was somewhat hoarse. We made it through the transaction, and as I was handing her the change, I told her that I hoped she felt better and got over her cold soon. She quickly corrected me and told me that she was 3 months past a stroke, and that day was her first day “back out in society” and she was going to work. She was feeling very grateful, and told me as she left, “I never knew what a precious thing the ability to speak is!”

As I thought about that later that day, the Romans verse above came to me and God used it to speak to me about another ability to speak that we currently have in this country….the ability to speak about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are still the most blessed of many Christians in our world. We have the freedom to share the Gospel with people anywhere and everywhere we go, mostly without restriction or fear of reprisal. But as we all know, that freedom is being infringed on a little more every day, and that has caused many believers to begin to fight back to retain our religious freedoms. And fighting back is VERY important…the church has been silent far too long.

However, it seems that in all the battles,speeches, and fighting back, we have forgotten the BEST way…by spreading the good news that Jesus came, died, and rose again, to provide salvation and eternal life for anyone who will believe in Him! Only God can change a heart that is totally against Him, save it, and make it brand new. Only God can bring our country back to Him. AND YET! We have the ability to speak on His behalf! We have the opportunity to be His instruments to win the world, one person at a time. The ability to be used by Him to influence the entire future of our country, by bringing more and more people to Him. But we cannot do it, if we don’t, like my customer, realize the precious privilege that it is and begin to work to regain our voices, and to speak out the truths of the Bible and our Jesus! May God use ALL of us to get that done!