Stage Fright

READ: EXODUS 4:10-12; LUKE 12:11-12; EPHESIANS 6:19-20

Have you ever gotten stage fright? Getting up and speaking in front of a group of people can be nerve-racking! The truth is, lots of people struggle with stage fright, including celebrities who perform all the time. When we have to get up in front of people, a helpful piece of advice is not to worry so much about what others will think of us. Instead, we can shift our focus away from ourselves and concentrate on helping our audience learn something new.

Much like stage fright, we can get nervous about talking to someone about Jesus. We might feel that Jesus wants us to speak about Him to someone, but we get nervous and wonder what to say and what the person will think of us. But instead of focusing on ourselves, we can shift our focus onto Jesus and the person we’re talking to. God wants to help us follow His leading and help that person know more about who He is. As we remember that He’s always with us, helping us every step of the way, we can face our fears and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Remember, people throughout the Bible needed God’s help to speak. In the book of Exodus, when God told Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked God to send someone else, saying, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent…because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish” (Exodus 4:10). But God promised to teach Moses what to say. Jesus gives us a similar promise in Luke 12:11-12, saying the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say.

Whenever we get nervous, we can always ask for help, both from God and from fellow Christians. For example, Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, “Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it [the gospel] as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20). Even though Paul had taught crowds of people about the gospel many times, he still asked for prayer, knowing that he needed God to work through him. In the same way, we can trust God to help us find the right words when He calls us to speak. Then we can leave the results up to Him. • A. W. Smith

• Whenever we’re nervous to speak in front of a group, we can talk to God about it. He cares, and He wants to help us. And when we get nervous when we have an opportunity to tell one of our friends about Jesus, He’ll help us with that too. Have you ever talked to someone about Jesus? What was that like?

• If we know Jesus, He is always with us through the Holy Spirit. How can remembering this truth encourage us when we feel too nervous to speak? (Matthew 10:19; Mark 13:11)

“Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:12 (CSB)