“Hold it, Master God! Look at me. I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!” (Jeremiah 1:6)

“I am not made for perilous quests,” cried Frodo. (The Fellowship of the Ring)

‘But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”’ (Exodus 4:10)

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I can hear you saying, “I’m not called to be the voice of God.”

But you are.

Maybe you aren’t called to guide an entire nation to change their ways like Jeremiah was. Maybe you’re not called to lead a band of hobbits across New Zealand to throw a ring into a volcano. And maybe you’re not called to steer a nation around the wilderness for 40 years while listening to their loud complaints.

God has put you in relationships with others. If you’re a quiet introvert, maybe your circle is small. If you’re a professor, your circle is larger, but your voice is restricted by what the university will let you say. If you work remotely, maybe your interactions with a coworker are limited to those quick moments before a third person joins your Zoom calls.

Grab every opportunity to speak into another’s life. Even the smallest words may make a big difference in their outlook.

Or maybe you’ve been thinking of a small change that will make a cumulative difference. Speak up and share that idea with a willing friend. (I’m working on this one – time will tell if my friends listen.)

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Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.

The photo is used with permission under a Creative Commons license. Thanks to Jason Rosewell, the photographer. His work is on Unsplash.