I met her at my old church. We were both about to graduate form high school and looking for some kind of direction. We met once a week with one other girl and our female youth pastor.
We would share our praises or prayer requests every week. It seemed I was always sharing something “more sinful,” darker, more difficult. She always seemed fine. Her sins were nothing compared to mine.
Yet, one day we were asked to share our testimonies–tell each other how we met God and what He had done for us. She froze. She fumbled. She wouldn’t talk. Then, after a few moments of silence, she said something that totally shocked me…
“I don’t really have a testimony,” she began. “I mean, I’ve always just known God and I don’t have some crazy, wild past or conversion story. My testimony is boring.”
I let her words sink in for a moment. Then the anger rose up in me. No, I wasn’t angry with her. I was angry that any believer would ever be made to feel that their story with Jesus was somehow useless or immaterial.
I exhorted her and told her that I would trade my testimony with hers in a heartbeat. The pain I suffered at times, the loss I’d experienced–I would snap my fingers and take her story in an instant.
I told her that just because God protected her from the pain that many experience in childhood and early adulthood doesn’t mean that her testimony was somehow less powerful. Over the years, I have continued to meet people who downplay or are embarrassed to share their testimonies, calling them “lame” or “uneventful.”
If you grew up in a Christian home with God-fearing parents–the glory is still His. If you knew Christ at an early age and never really “fell away” or had a period of doubt–the glory is still His. If you find your testimony boring because you never found yourself homeless, addicted to drugs, or in jail–the glory is still His!
If this describes you, know this: your testimony counts. It. Is. Powerful. It is to be shared to the glory of God. Never let anyone, including the enemy, make you think that your testimony is less-than, lame, or not worth sharing.
The power of your testimony lies in the offering of God’s protection.
My testimony is not pretty. Sometimes, I am hesitant to share it, and yet, I know God can use what is hideous, blemished, tarnished, broken, and dejected to bring about His glory. Imagine how much glory He also receives from a story of hope, provision, and protection.
I told the girl I met with that day that I hoped she would never again doubt or hesitate to share what God had done in her life. People need to hear that God not only pulls us out of the mud but also chooses to protect some from ever falling in…
Do you think your testimony is boring or lame or uninteresting? Have you ever hesitated sharing because you don’t have an “amazing conversion” story? Do you think God still receives glory in the “boring”?
And please, don’t hesitate sharing your testimony here, too–the glory is always His.
