Today we celebrated Thanksgiving in our church.
as is normal for every Thanksgiving season I was reminded to reflect on all
the things I have in life to be thankful for.
everytime I do this it humbles me and encourages me.
I am humbled because, well, it puts me in my place.
so often we go through life thinking about what we want and how this or that could be better.
if our prayers were put on a scale the side with our requests would far outweigh our thanksgiving right?
yes.
but this reflection also encourages me.
I am reminded and even made aware of how much the Lord has truly blessed me in this life.
this season I have become aware of something that I have not given thanks for in a while.
my testimony.
yeah, that's right.
I don't thank the Lord for my testimony very often.
salvation, yes when I focus on it I thank Jesus for the salvation He made possible.
but how often do I thank the Lord that I not only have salvation but
aslo
I have a way of sharing that.
I get to share how the Lord Jesus became a reality to me.
I have been in an attitude of thankfulness for this lately because of how often I have shared pieces of my testimony while being in the Ukraine.
at almost every place I have traveled with Alexander I have been asked to either stand in front of a congregation or share with a group my testimony.
In America I overlook it.
the only place I ever truly share my testimony is with a group of fellow believers.
don't get me wrong this is still powerful and useful.
but last week I shared my testimony in the home of a man and wife who are not believers.
they asked me to share about how I became a Christian.
in that moment I had to thank the Lord that I had a story.
there isn't just one way that the Lord works and moves.
no two believers have the exact same testimony.
God is creative.
He is not boring.
He is not stupid.
He knows that each person thinks differently.
He knows that giving each person a testimony with different details makes it effective for other individuals to hear because of those details.
giving us testimonies with different details shows that God is real.
there is no formula to our God.
He works in us with what we have so we can tell the specific ways He delivered us.
"it's beauiful a beautiful story"
that's what the woman said after hearing my testimony.
now she didn't drop to her knees and repent
but
she did see the beauty of God.
whatever it is she remembers she will remember that the only reason I told the story was because of the hand of God on my life.
through my testimony.
praise the Lord for testimonies.
I challenge you:
1. try being in a state of thankfulness. for each detail. not just the big stuff but for everday things you take for granted. all those things that if they disappeared would change your life.
2. think about your testimony. ask God to reveal all the details to you. share it.
3. if you don't have a testimony find someone who is a believer and ask them to share their's with you. take a leap of faith and rest assured that God is the creator of all and His son died so we could be reconciled with our creator.
