Today I am preparing to go away for a couple of days to a mountain lodge nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge. I'll be sharing the weekend with 25 other ladies who are passionate to encounter God.
After 10 years of leading these Encounters, I'm prepared for what I will hear and see this weekend. Women who have horror stories of abuse. Women whose lives were traumatized by divorce. Women who are battling substance abuse. Women who are weighed down with guilt and regret from abortion.
If not for grace!!!
These women will encounter God and God will heal them. I know this because I know God. The testimonies that result from this mountain-top encounter will be nothing short of phenomenal!
Then there's my testimony. Compared to what I hear from others, my testimony seems so boring. I've never personally experienced any of the life-shattering experiences listed above. My family life was wholesome; my parents God-fearing. I was handed a legacy of generations of followers of Christ and ministers of the Gospel. I was sheltered and protected by a loving pastor-father and mentored by a powerful preacher-mother. I never fell into teen rebellion. I loved the house of God and grew to love His Word.
Please do not misunderstand! My past is not pristine. I went through a season of years of rebellion against authority in my early twenties. My husband and I have faced truly devastating circumstances in our 37 years of marriage. But as I review my life overall, I've had it pretty easy.
Some would say...even boring.
It is fair to say that I will not be invited to appear on the 700 Club or TBN to give my testimony. A book about my life will most likely not make the New York Times best-seller list.
Saul - who became the Apostle Paul - now there's a sensational testimony! Christian-killer-turned-apostle to the Gentiles! Wow. Mind boggling. As I look at the sons he raised up in the faith I cannot help but notice Timothy. Apparently my testimony mirrors Timothy's a bit. "I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also." (2 Timothy 1:4-5)
Timothy was a dear and loyal spiritual son to the Apostle Paul, and he became the pastor of one of the greatest regional churches in Asia. The gifts and callings of God were apparent in him as a young man for Paul cautioned him to let no one despise his youth, to stir up the gift of God within, and to not be ashamed of his testimony! (2 Timothy 1:8)
Thank God for all the sensational, mind-blowing testimonies of changed lives by the grace of God! I will always love hearing them and seeing the impact they make on others. But in reality, as boring as my testimony is, I was a rank sinner who needed God's grace as much as anyone!
I'm not ashamed of the Gospel and I'm not ashamed of my boring testimony.
Oh - and I pray all my children and grandchildren have equally boring testimonies for their lives!
