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The Power of a Testimony

Photo by Rosie Sun on Unsplash

“I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.” Psalm 40:9-10

A couple of weeks ago, my pastor asked me to give a testimony in both the traditional and contemporary services in our church. Gulp! 

Years ago, I was set free from a lifetime of fear (you can read about that here), and I told the Lord then that I would give a testimony anytime the opportunity presented itself. After all, doesn’t scripture say in 1 Peter, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence”?

To say that speaking in front of both congregations was taking me outside of my comfort zone is an understatement. I prefer writing my testimonies on a keyboard than voicing them, but how could I not share what He had done for me? This is the testimony I gave, though I am providing more details than I shared in church because of the allotted time I had.

“I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” Psalm 22:22

Our family, like many others, experienced Covid first-hand during the recent holidays. The symptoms were relatively minor, but it left a few of us with lingering issues. Two of my adult children sometimes had difficulty breathing, getting winded easily with the slightest physical exertion. For me, it was daily headaches, ranging from mild to migraine, and nothing relieved the pain.

A couple of weeks ago, the prayer team assembled at the front of the church after the service as usual, but I did not go forward. The thought just didn’t cross my mind. 

Parishioners began leaving, and it surprised me when one of the prayer team members approached me and said the Lord had nudged him to ask me how he could pray for me. The Lord had nudged him? For me? I contemplated his words, and then asked for prayer for my two children with Covid issues, not thinking about my headaches. As this servant of God began praying, the Lord prompted me to mention my headaches. When I did, he called another prayer team member over and they placed their hands on me and prayed for my family and me. I thanked them and left.

The following day, for the first time in over a month, I awoke without a headache, and I have had no headaches since that time. Praise God! 

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” James 5:14-15

God is so good, isn’t He? Pray. Pray often. Pray for your family, your friends, your community… but don’t forget to pray for yourself!

“And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18

“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalm 103:1-5

“One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4

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Enjoy

Photo by Isaac Del Toro on Unsplash

This post is part of a writing challenge I took part in to stretch my writing. Five Minute Friday’s word for the day was “Enjoy.” This is spontaneous writing in only 5 minutes.

Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Psalm 127:3

Beeping. A muffled sound of beeping filled the room, growing in volume. What on earth? My eyes swept the room to determine the source of this intrusion that disturbed the quietness. Narrowing it down to a specific area, I ventured toward the sound.

The offender? An old MP3 charging base, forgotten about and never unpacked during a move several months before. It had sat, neglected, waiting to be of use again when just the right location presented itself. Only it hadn’t, and so it sat, until in desperation, the low battery signal voiced its complaint.

“Remember,” it seemed to say. “Remember.”

I didn’t want to take the time to attend to it now, but that incessant beeping continued. Sighing, I removed the charging base from its protective case and sat down. I tried to pry the back open with my fingers, but the plastic battery compartment lid was brittle, and a piece of it broke off.

I sighed again. “Fine,” I stated impatiently, as I went off in search of a screwdriver. Quickly finding one, I sat again and picked up the base. The screwdriver accomplished the task easily, and I removed the batteries, glad that it had been relatively simple.

But still the beeping continued.

“Remember.”

Examining the base again, I found a smaller compartment that looked as if it might hold another battery. This one opened easily, and I removed the small, round battery without difficulty. 

The noise immediately stopped.

Picking up the case, I removed the MP3 player that I had safely tucked into an interior pocket. 

“Hello, old friend,” I whispered.

Glancing around the room again, I was determined to find a place for them once and for all. Rearranging books, a lamp, and a plant on a nearby table, I sat the base in the space I had made. Finding a nearby outlet, I plugged it in. I set the MP3 player on the base and struggled to remember how it even worked. I must have hit the right combination of buttons because suddenly music filled the air and it immediately transported me back in time. 

Yes, I remember.

My children were very young then. Almost every night, we had snuggled and said our bedtime prayers together, and we would finish by singing the chorus to the song that was now playing: 

Jesus, Keeper of this life

You are my Refuge, my Savior, my Guide

Watch over this little one tonight

Guard his every footstep as he travels this life

And in some quiet moment draw him to Your side

That he may come to know You, Jesus

As the Keeper of this life.

We adapted the lyrics slightly to cover all of my children. We would end with hugs and kisses, and I would sleep well, knowing that the Lord had heard.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

The children grew older, we would have another child, and would move and have other disruptions to our nightly ritual, and eventually we stopped singing the song.

My eyes filled with tears as I relived the memory of those precious times with my little ones. They are grown now, but they remember. In a nostalgic moment, my daughter recently confided that she will do the same with the children she will have some day.

Enjoy your little ones. Treasure all the moments you can, because they will pass quickly. Enjoy every moment.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

The Keeper, Geoff Moore & The Distance

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A Lesson in Sudoku

Photo by John Morgan on Unsplash (cropped)

“You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” Psalm 56:8

Lately I have been going through a tough time, and have repeatedly cried out to the Lord to have it end. Enough already! Uncle!! This is me, waving my white flag!

The Lord always gets His points across in unusual ways, doesn’t He?

This morning I was playing a game of sudoku on my phone. You know, they say that brain games keep our minds sharp (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

I set the game on the medium setting. Not too easy, but not so challenging that it is discouraging.

I’m not sure how others play, but I have a system. I begin with the number 1, and go in order through the numbers, repeating until I have completed the game – unless an obvious move jumps out at me. I played the number 1, and placed all 9 of them on the board in one round. I then played the number 2, and placed all of them in one round. “Wow, that’s surprising,” I thought.

Number 3 was the same, followed by 4, and then 5. When I got to number 6, I couldn’t place them all, but I placed all the 7s and 9s. I only had to repeat numbers 6 and 8 one time each, and then the game was over.

There was no challenge at all. It was so easy. It was actually pretty… dull.

I quickly understood the object of the lesson the Lord was teaching me. If things were as easy as I would like them to be, my life, too, would be dull. It is anything but that!

Imagine planning a trip to your favorite amusement or theme park. You’ve rented the car, booked the hotel, and purchased the tickets online at a discount. You have a cooler full of snacks and drinks to help ease the long drive, and you set off, eagerly anticipating your arrival.

You step foot inside the park and see toddler rides. A carousel here, a giant swing over there. You keep walking and find more of the same. You eventually cover the entire park, completely baffled. Where are the water rides? Where are the adventure rides? Where are the rollercoasters?

You inquire of a worker and discover that the park owners had played it safe and stuck to the gentler, smoother rides. You feel kind of cheated. You came all this way for… dull?

“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly – as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly.” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

King David didn’t play it safe. Neither did Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Noah, Joseph, Samson, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul or Jesus, Yeshua. They lived, they conquered, and their lives inspire us to do the same.

As always, You’re right, Lord. The easiest path is not the most rewarding. Help us to remember that Your plans are good, and that You are growing us up into the mature believers that You created us to be.

“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” Ecclesiastes 11:5

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash