Our Testimony

Devotional for 2/17/11

Have you ever wondered why it is that we are encouraged to share our testimony with others? I can remember asking myself this question the first time I was given the opportunity to share my own testimony. After all, I thought, “What purpose could there possibly be in bringing up all of that painful stuff? Isn’t it much better to just let it be and to move on in our lives?”

A lot of us have been through some pretty hard things. Why in the world would we want to “go through” them again by talking about them, especially in the presence of others? What good could possibly come out of talking about the things that were so bad? I mean, it would be different if you actually knew the people that you were talking to, but really… are we called to “bare” our soul (and all that we’ve been through) in front of complete strangers?

Yes, I believe that we are. The Bible says in Revelation 12, verse 11a, “For they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” I absolutely love how the Lord first off purchased our freedom for us, and then how He delights in sending us out to share with others, this great work that He has accomplished in our lives.

There is something that happens on the inside of us when Jesus touches our lives. It is an experience unlike any other that I have ever known. It makes such a tremendous difference in our perspective. Where once we tried our best to “hide” the things that weren’t “lovely” in our lives, His touch in our life causes us to almost feel “compelled” to share these same things with others. Before we know it, we find that we want to share His goodness and love for us with them. We want to talk to them about the healing that has taken place in our lives. We want to share with them the new sense of hope that we have been given, in the very same places where once there was nothing but hopelessness. It is a beautiful process. I have found that it tends to become less and less about us and more about Him.

It is as if we are able to look around us and “see” those who are still in some kind of painful place in their life. Once you are broken, it isn’t that difficult to recognize the pain of brokenness in others. To be able to hear someone open up and begin to talk about their own pain somehow gives us the “license” or permission, to do the same with our own. It is as if you finally know that “somewhere” out there, there is a person that you believe will finally understand how you feel. When someone else opens up and shares their deepest fears and heartaches, somehow you begin to feel that you might be able to do the same.

 

I love how the Lord uses each and everything in our lives to accomplish His work in the world around us. I love seeing how He makes us “courageous” enough to step beyond our own comforts and fears. He begins to reach out, through us to others, with His love. It is something that I know that I will never, ever grow tired of. To be used of the Lord, to bring healing to someone else. It is both powerful and extremely humbling all at the same time. It is how God chooses to work. He allows us to be partners in His Son’s good work, right alongside Him.

So, if today you find yourself struggling to “share” your story with others, ask the Lord to give you the courage that you need to do it. I promise you, from my own personal experience, that no matter how hard it may seem to be at first, that once you do, it is something that you will never regret.

Written by Beverley A. Napier