Josiah Road

I Would Rather Die

Public speaking is the most widespread phobia, even topping the fear of death! This often makes my dad say, “People would rather die than give a speech!” I am one of those people. My whole life I have been afraid of public speaking! However, in September of 2003 God made it clear that He wanted me to be a preacher. “What! But God, you know how I feel about that…” But it was no use, I knew what God wanted me to do, and I couldn’t run from it. I tried though! I thought of every other option: I looked at different schools, I made lists of my abilities/talents/interests, I sought advice from everyone I knew, but it didn’t change the fact that God wanted me to preach.

The book of Jonah is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament, because Jonah was just like me! God told him to preach, and Jonah had a major problem with it. God told him to go to Nineveh, and Jonah decided to get in a boat and head the complete opposite direction. I can’t blame him! The people of Nineveh were famous for their brutality: They were known to cut off the lips, ears and hands of torture victims, stick heads on poles to decorate the entrance of their city, and hang the skin of their enemies off the walls as intimidation. Jonah probably saw a dismal future if he angered these people, especially since his message was “In 40 days God will destroy your city!” However, God sent a great tempest on the sea, and Jonah knew it was because of his disobedience. He told the sailors to throw him overboard if they wanted to survive the storm, and that’s exactly what they did. Jonah could have made them turn around and take him back, but he would rather have died than do what God told him to do (he was one of those “rather-die-than-give-a-speech” types!). But God still wouldn’t let him get away so He sent a giant fish to swallow him and spit him onto the beach. At this point Jonah finally gave in and trudged off to Nineveh and you know what the amazing thing is? He passed on God’s message, and the entire city decided to start following God! Amazing! Did Jonah ever believe this would happen?

What has God asked you to do? Do you feel inadequate? Does it scare you to death? It scared me and it scared Jonah too, but you know what? It was totally worth it. I love preaching now and look forward to every chance I get to do it! Does it still scare me? Oh yeah! But just like God gave Jonah the power to do it, He has done that for me too. Never in a million years could I have hoped to do the things I’ve done, but that’s the awesome power of God.