Be Not Afraid!

I read a special message this morning about Christian College Students who were afraid to admit to their professor, an outspoken atheist, that they believed in Jesus for fear of his reaction or of the grade they might receive in his class if they admitted to knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I posted it to my Facebook and wrote exactly what I felt in my heart as I read the message of the students. I wrote above the post: "I don't worry about the rooster crowing...I am NOT afraid!" Then this evening I was listening to the radio and a song came on that I've not heard before. I don't know who the artist is, or the name of the song...but the words clung to my heart, and I felt a bit convicted. The words of the song were basically saying that so many Christians, given a perfect opportunity to share their faith or speak up for God, withered or shrunk back and did not seize the moment. Sadly, instead they 'denied God'...not verbally, but by allowing their fear of what the world would think of them, they froze and could not (or would not) admit to the world that they know God...they denied Him. Listening to the words of that song, I realized the fear I feel and how I want to shrink back and hide when I realize I've drawn attention to myself and people are looking at me. Well, this made me think honestly about a situation I might be in where I could stand up for God, or share my faith and I felt conviction come over me. Let's be honest, as much as I know I want to be strong enough to speak up, I'm not sure I wouldn't shrink back and try be become invisible. It's not easy to admit this. I want to be confident that when it comes to standing up for God I would have no fear to stand up against 100 people, or 50 people, or even 20 people. One, two or even 5 people..., I'm pretty confident I wouldn't be afraid, but in a whole classroom full or a crowd of people...well, I can only pray God would give me the strength to NOT deny Him. It's easy to say, 'Oh no, I would never deny You Lord!', just as Peter said to Jesus....but thrown into an actual real-life situation with a bunch of people around who are saying they do not believe there is a God...would you 'be not afraid' to stand up and say, I KNOW there is ONE TRUE GOD, and I KNOW Jesus is my Savior? I can only pray God will give me the strength to stand up before many and proclaim Him my Lord and Savior! I know it in my heart, and have no doubt at all about the Lord, but would I 'be not afraid' to tell it to the world?