Yesterday I was out for lunch with some co-workers from the Ministry of the Attorney General. All of us are aspiring young criminal lawyers and we were out celebrating a birthday at an Indian restaurant (this was good because I had been craving butter chicken and nan!).

Near the end of the meal, somehow the topic of religion came up, specifically Scientology and Tom Cruise. This led to discussions on all religions in general and of course, Christianity entered the mix. Somehow dinosaurs came up and a comment was made that Christians could not explain dinosaurs because they were not mentioned in the Bible. I piped in and said "sure they are!" I didn't have exact verses at my fingertips, but offered to look it up.

But other than speaking up that one time, I was pretty silent and later on in the day, I was so ashamed that I didn't say more to defend my faith and defend my God. That's not to say that my friends were attacking Christianity, because they were not, but I felt as though I should have offered my opinion, input, insights, ANYTHING!

Last night as I was settling down to go to bed, I decided to open my Bible, which regrettably, is something that does not happen very often for me. In fact, outside of caselaw, articles and legal texts, I find I don’t have time to read much else (or at least that's my excuse). I opened it to Romans 1 and began to read. I felt sick when I got to verse 16 "am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . ." was I ashamed at lunch today?

I prayed that God would provide me with more knowledge so that I would feel comfortable sharing in the future. I also prayed that He would make me bold and fearless in my Christian walk, the way that I am in other areas of my life. What is it about discussing my faith and my God that sends butterflies all through my stomach and gives me waves of nausea?
Do I fear being judged? The real judgment I should fear is that of the Lord. I just feel discouraged that I didn't do more… that I didn’t use the opportunity to discuss what I believe.