Speaking Up

Mid-way through the semester, the teacher of my religion class was unable to continue teaching the class, so he was replaced by another instructor. This instructor is teaching the class quite differently than the other one was. So it's taken our class some time to get use to him. Especially since he added additional assignments to our load.
In any case, this past class period, he shared a Bible verse, and after sharing how it had blessed or impacted him, asked the class to share. One person shared, and then he asked again if any one had anything to share. I wanted to share about a certain part of the verse that spoke to me, but after a second of hesitation, I lost my courage. Right at that second, a young man raised his hand. The part of the verse that jumped out at him was just what I wanted to share. In a sense, I was rebuked for not sharing, and yet in another way, I was so encouraged. This young man was not someone I would've expected to share, especially along the line of spiritual things. He shared how recently he had been feeling the need to draw closer to God, and  how he had started spending more time with God, and in the process, had found his convictions start to change... I was so blessed by his simple words. I think the whole class was impacted for good. I'm pretty sure it didn't come easily for this guy to share, but I hope he doesn't regret sharing, because it meant a lot to me.
I hope to be more like this young man. I want to share from my heart about what God is doing in my life.
Only God knows the impact for good my words may have on one soul.