The billboard said, “Give the gift of confidence!” I’d recently had a crisis in confidence.  Maybe here was my solution! Turned out to be an advertisement for Botox, vein repair and liposuction surgery. Nice. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. Go get a new face…” Not quite what I had in mind.

My crisis of confidence had occurred almost one year back. Needing a new haircut for the holidays, I had settled into the salon chair and was carrying on polite banter with the stylist.  Because I’m a Christian and am conscious that at any time I may be on a divine appointment, I mentally scrolled for a way to share Jesus with her. “Are you planning to attend any special Christmas services next week?”

“No, I’ve never been to church. My parents didn’t go, and I wasn’t raised that way.” What? Never been to church? Don’t know that Christmas is about the birth of the Savior of the World? I was totally stuck. I make my living telling people about Jesus, but they are almost always people who already know him, or at least know about him. I’d attended studies on strategies for personal witness, had heard countless sermons, and knew how urgent it is that people receive the gift of salvation while the offer is still available. But now I didn’t even know where to start, where to find common ground. So, muttering a few words about what Jesus means to me, I left in defeat, but determined to be better prepared next time!

I asked my friends, “How do you share Jesus with urban pagans?” Then I talked to my Father, opened the Word, and came to Matthew 5:16: “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Sometimes Christians use this as an excuse: people will see your good behavior, ask you why—and then you can tell them! But how many people have asked you that in the last year, even if you’ve been on your Very Best Behavior? Perhaps they just think you are naturally even-tempered, kind, pain-free, incredibly successful and virtuous. But the Scripture says they should respond to you by praising your FATHER, and not you. How could they do that if you never told them of him?

It seems obvious God wants me to speak my faith.

A harried businessman was caught in a long line of restless passengers at an airport in Indonesia. Nearby he observed someone who seemed patient and courteous in the middle of the stress around him. Recognizing him from the news as Chuck Colson, the businessman decided to buy Colson’s book, Born Again. Through the book, he came to faith in the Christ who had radically changed Colson, this powerful and profane politician, into a patient, kind, follower of Christ. Colson’s behavior validated his words.

I began to realize that I needed to be a better listener to the voice of my Master, and then to intentionally daily yield my body—my feet and hands, my mind and my mouth—for his purposes. Sometimes this year his voice has been the still, small voice of the Spirit, cutting through the jangle of background noise, “Say nothing. Lend a hand and a silent prayer…” And sometimes it has been the loud thunder of the Lord God Almighty saying “Now! Tell her I love her and want to forgive her!”

I also was reminded, through reading Lee Strobel’s new book, The Unexpected Adventure, that I’m not responsible to lead someone completely to the “sinner’s prayer” in a single conversation! I may be only a tiny link in a chain of events and words in another’s journey to faith.

Strobel tells of meeting a fellow camper named Dan on a hiking trip in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains. He writes:
It was a beautiful morning. We walked along, chatting and enjoying the alpine scenery, and the higher we climbed the more mountain flower variations we noticed. After we had all commented about how amazing they were, it struck me that I might be able to bridge the conversation to more significant topics. So I decided to throw out a line and see what happened.
“You know, God must have quite an imagination to create such beauty,” I began. “We keep seeing all these incredible shapes and colors of flowers. The Creator must really be creative.”  ….Dan glanced back at me and said, “Well, I guess that would be true if you believed in God, but I don’t.”

Dan, however, didn’t know that Lee Strobel—an ex-atheist himself—had been looking to witness to just such a person. After several days of discussion, Strobel’s party broke camp and said their farewells. But God was not finished with Dan. Coming up the trail was a group of five big, athletic, friendly guys—who turned out to be Christians, leaders in the Navigators ministry! Strobel told them about Dan, made a map to his campsite, and sent them off on the next stage of the mission!

So, these last few months have been a little different for me. I’ve prayed with a sobbing actress, my seatmate on a plane; talked about Jesus to a distressed businessman; and kept my mouth shut and my Bible open when confronted by a satanist (but that’s another story…). Last month my seatmate was a pilot who, after a long discussion about Islam and politics, belittled Christianity and questioned the reality of Jesus. But he ended up saying he wished he had my faith.

So maybe the next witness can lead him a step closer to Jesus. Maybe it will be you.

Ruth Vallevik is Director of CLB Women’s Ministries.