Should I say or should I go

If you are from the spelling police, you can stop right there! This is not about the fabulous song by The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" I didn't misspell "stay," but meant to say "say."

I have lately been wrestling with just how much I should say. You know, mostly on social media, but also in general. Is it better to speak up or go silent? Should we stand boldly for our positions, or go off quietly into the night?

There's a lot going on nowadays: a world-wide pandemic, politics, religion, racial unrest, climate change, and just the normal truth-or-dare of life.

Martin Luther King Jr. made famous the quote:

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

I think that's true, and I believe many of these things matter. At least they matter to me!

I also think it's true there are different ways to "speak up." We're all different. We all have different strengths and gifts. I have always leaned more toward being a prophetic type. Not in fore-telling the future, but in feeling compelled to speak the truth (and, yes, I know, it should be done 'in love'). There are also times when I just sort of 'sense' something to be true or that it needs said or done. This too is part of being spiritually gifted as a prophet.

So, this has been my dilemma lately. I am timid by nature, but torn because I really feel this is how God has wired me. For example, the other day I left a comment on a friends post, but then deleted it before anyone could respond. I was scared of what someone might say, but later felt guilty - like I was letting God down. Is this my cross to bear? I think so. While I would rather not speak up, I believe that is perhaps what I was made for; it's who I am.

I suppose it is my eternal working-out-my-salvation with fear and trembling...

***

1 Corinthians 12:4-6
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work."