Greetings from Lacock Vicarage
Do you like being put on the spot?
Recently I was put on the spot when I was asked to be part of an ‘Any Questions’ panel – not I hasten to add the one chaired by David Dimbleby on the BBC – but a local one in Gastard Village Hall. I was alongside a prospective local MP, a local Town Councillor and a respected local Doctor. I think I must have been there as light relief or ‘token woman’.
We had a preview of the questions we were to be asked which covered hot topics such as the economy, the 2012 Olympic budget, the G8 summit and world poverty, local developments, the NHS, global warming, political correctness and pensions. Thank goodness for the novelty question at the end!
Well, however much I might have squirmed when I first tried to think what I had to contribute to any debate on these lofty matters, there is no doubt that it is good to be put on the spot! You have to come to a decision that otherwise you might avoid – we all feel happier vaguely sitting on the fence, or leaving it to the experts. But having to reflect on these issues and coherently decide what I thought, was good for me and gave me the opportunity to think about and voice the principles behind issues from a Christian viewpoint.
Have you ever been put on the spot? My most life-changing decision came about 28 years ago, because someone did that to me - they asked me a direct question about my faith in God. I had been talking to them about their faith because they seemed very ‘normal’ and yet talked about God and Jesus in a way I hadn’t come across before – a personal faith in a present, powerful and loving God - not just some vague acknowledgement of ‘something out there’ which didn’t impact on any part of their actual life.
When put on the spot about my own faith, or lack of it at that point, I had to decide what I actually believed - and amazingly I put my trust in God and came to know Jesus as God’s love in person.
The rest is history… and here I am, still following where He leads. Don’t let important questions pass you, or anyone else by – why not put someone on the spot today… nicely though!
Every Blessing
Sally
