Testimony! People’s stories fascinate me. Specifically their life story, their journey with God. Even if they don’t acknowledge God, as God, they still have a journey with Him because He is our creator and we can’t get away from Him. It might be a silent journey but every life is journeying with God in the picture because he created the picture. There is no life without God, there is only life with or without acknowledging God.
Everyone Has A Story
Testimonies encourage and baffle me sometimes. We all have a story to tell with our lives, our life story. I suppose a testimony is the story, or specifically the part of your story, that you share with others.
A testimony is developed through a test, or crisis of faith that makes people believe and press in closer or step away from God. The ingredients of a testimony is what test us to see what is really deep inside, behind all the stuff and feelings and attitudes and it comes down to what is at the core. A testimony is how we share that test, what the results of the test were.
It’s Not About Performance
I’m not referring to results about how well we did, that’s performance, but what we found when we hit Rock bottom. When the test challenged everything we think and believe. Did we find the Rock on which we stand or did we find ourselves in sinking sand?
God is the same God of yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t encounter people and walk away. He doesn’t show up in your life and leave you the same as he found you. He is the same and we are not, when we have experienced Jesus. He doesn’t save people and leave them to figure it out until death when we meet again.
A Testimony Is Living And Active
A life testimony is living and active no matter your circumstances. If we aren’t growing in our faith as we get older, we (or our faith rather) will shrink and die or shrink and live empty. God is good and faithful our whole lives, not just until we are tired.
God Uses Every Part and Day of Our Lives
God uses every part and day of our lives to testify of his goodness but most times we only surrender the times of our lives that feel out of control or totally miraculous. He uses those but only to show us He is trustworthy with every part of our life not just the hard and miraculous parts. He wants every single day and cell of our existence. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I guess for me, I’m stuck thinking about generations. How will my life impact my kids and grandkids? What stories will they remember about me? We can’t instruct our kids or grandkids to remember certain things a particular way. They remember what they remember, and how they remember it and we can’t change their mind.
Different Memories of the Same Event
It’s always interesting to me to have me and my sisters get together who grew up in the same exact household with the same parents and our memories can be very different. The same thing happens with my kids; their memories can be different from one another and different from mine. Different things stand out about the same event.
What Story Does Your Life Tell?
If my life isn’t a God-story lived until death it’s not a testimony, it’s a life story that ends with death. If my life (and yours) is a testimony of God’s steadfast love, endurance and faithfulness for all generations, it will go on forever.
