Matthew 10:16-20: a reflection

As Jesus sends his disciples out into a hostile world, warning them they will be dragged before councils and governors, he gives them a promise about that very moment of pressure. When they deliver you up, don't be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. In the moment when they would stand before hostile powers, they were not to be consumed with anxiety about what to say; God would give them the words in that hour. The Spirit of the Father would speak in them; they could trust God to provide what they needed to say when the moment came.

Notice the promise for the moment of pressure: do not be anxious what to say, for it will be given you. Jesus does not tell his disciples to rehearse anxious speeches in advance; he tells them not to be anxious about it, because God would give them the words in the hour of need. When the pressured moment came, they would not be left to their own resources; the Spirit of the Father would speak in them, giving them what to say. Their part was not to be consumed with anxiety, but to trust that God would provide the words when the moment came. The promise freed them from anxious rehearsal: God would give what was needed in the hour itself.

That is worth taking to heart, for we too can trust God to give us the words we need in hard moments, rather than being consumed with anxiety. When we anticipate a hard moment, a confrontation, a testimony, a difficult conversation, we can be consumed with anxiety about what to say, rehearsing endlessly; but Jesus told his disciples not to be anxious, because God would give them the words in the hour. We can trust God to provide what we need to say when the moment comes. When you face a hard moment and are anxious about what to say, do not be consumed with anxious rehearsal; trust God to give you the words in the hour, as Jesus promised his disciples. Trust God to give you the words you need in hard moments, rather than being consumed with anxiety about what to say, as Jesus told his disciples not to be anxious because the Spirit of the Father would speak in them; for God is able to provide what we need to say in the hour of need, and we can trust him rather than being consumed with anxious rehearsal beforehand.