Speak up Please

Life has a way of silencing us. Pain whispers that we should stay quiet. Disappointment suggests we sit down. Betrayal convinces us that our voice doesn't matter. Yet in the midst of all that tries to silence us, there's a divine invitation echoing through our circumstances: Speak up, please.

## The Courage to Speak When Everything Says "Be Quiet"

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church from a place of deep affliction. He wasn't writing from a mountaintop victory experience or a season of ease. He was writing from Macedonia, where he faced opposition from every direction—external threats from enemies and internal battles with his own fears. He'd been lied about, beaten, threatened, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead. People he trusted had abandoned him. Ministry partners had walked away, leaving him wondering who would be next to leave.

If anyone had earned the right to be silent, to retreat, to protect himself by saying nothing more, it was Paul. Yet in 2 Corinthians 4:13, he borrows words from Psalm 116: "Having the same spirit of faith as the Psalmist who wrote, 'I believe, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak."

This is the heart of the matter. Belief demands expression. Faith refuses to be silent. When you truly believe something, it won't stay locked inside—it must come out.

## You're More Qualified Than You Think

One of the greatest lies we tell ourselves is that we're not qualified to speak. We look at our past mistakes, our lack of formal training, our age, or our circumstances and conclude that we have nothing worth saying. But here's the revolutionary truth: our adequacy doesn't come from ourselves. It comes from God.

Second Corinthians 3:5 makes this clear—God is the one who makes us sufficient. He didn't wait for us to clean ourselves up before saving us. He saved us when we couldn't save ourselves. That same God who qualified us for salvation has qualified us to speak about what He's done--especially for us.

You may not be able to articulate everything perfectly. You might not have a theology degree or decades of life experience. But you can say, "I know I'm saved." Nobody can take that from you. And that simple testimony—"I know I'm saved"—is powerful enough to change someone's life.

Even more remarkably, God hasn't just qualified us individually. He's qualified us collectively. As the body of Christ, we've been selected and appointed as servants of a new covenant—not a covenant of death through the law, but a covenant of life through grace. We're ambassadors carrying a message of reconciliation, offering people the opportunity to join God's family through faith in Jesus Christ.

## The Power of Hope in Dark Times

What keeps us speaking when everything around us is falling apart? Hope. Not wishful thinking or positive vibes, but the solid, unshakeable hope that God who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us up.

This hope changes everything. It means that however bad things get, there's a better day coming. It means that whatever leadership we live under, whatever chaos surrounds us, there's a God who rules, super-rules, and overrules. This hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

When you have this kind of hope—what Peter calls a "living hope"—you don't just speak. You speak with boldness. You speak with courage. You speak even when threatened, even when mocked, even when it costs you something.

## Living It AND Saying It

There's a popular sentiment in Christian circles: "Let your life do the talking." And yes, we absolutely should live in a way that reflects Christ. Our actions matter. Jesus said to let our light shine so people can see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

But here's what we often miss: it's not just about living it. It's also about saying it.

Romans 10 lays out the logic clearly: "How can they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God. Someone has to speak up so others can hear.

In our digital age, this has never been easier. A text message. A social media post. A conversation over coffee. A reel or tweet. You can put truth on someone's timeline, in their inbox, on their mind. You can make them hear what they need to hear, even if they weren't looking for it.

## Broken Vessels and Shining Light

Here's where it gets beautiful and painful at the same time. Second Corinthians 4:6-7 tells us that God has shined His light in our hearts, giving us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ. But we carry this treasure in earthen vessels—fragile clay jars that crack and break.

Think about a clay jar. When it's whole, you can't see what's inside. But when it cracks, when it breaks, the contents spill out. The light inside becomes visible through the cracks.

This is what our affliction does. Our pain, our persecution, our struggles—they're the cracks that allow others to see what's on the inside. When people watch you go through grief and still praise God, they see the treasure. When they watch you face abandonment and keep believing, the light shines through. When they see you knocked down but not destroyed, they witness the glory of God breaking through your brokenness.

The greater the pain, the greater the glory that can shine through.

There's a story from the early church about a bishop sentenced to be burned at the stake for refusing to deny Christ. The night before his execution, church members visited him, saying, "We don't know if we can make it like you're making it. We don't know if we can keep speaking up knowing fire awaits us."

The bishop responded, "God will let you know that you can bear the fire."

The next day, as flames consumed him, just when the crowd thought he was dead, the bishop lifted his hands. The crowd erupted in praise. He let them know the fire was bearable.

## The Resurrection Power Within You

The final reason we can speak up is the most powerful: we have resurrection power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. That means death itself can't stop us. Nothing can ultimately silence us.

When you're beat down, God will raise you up. When doors close, God will raise you up. When opportunities are denied, God will raise you up. And one day, when you face your own death, that same power will raise you from the grave.

## Your Turn to Speak

So what's trying to silence you today? What pain, what fear, what past failure is keeping your mouth shut? What disappointment has convinced you to sit down?

Remember your adequacy comes from God. Remember you've been selected for this moment. Remember the hope you carry. Remember the resurrection power within you.

Then speak up, please. Make sure they can hear you. Make sure it's clear.

Because someone needs to know how to be saved. Someone needs to know they can come back. Someone needs to hear that it's survivable, that they can make it, that they can finish.

Don't let affliction silence you. Let it crack you open so the glory can shine through.

Speak up, please!