- Have you been inspired by anything lately?
- What’s one thing you’ve been most thankful for?
- Where have you seen the Lord working in your story this year?
I would love to hear! Why? Because testimonies are important!
I remember thinking that I needed some crazy, hard conversion story growing up in order for people to be interested in my testimony, but I felt like mine was quite plain. I was grateful to get saved at an early age, but felt there wasn’t much to say about it. I also thought that testimonies were only for people getting saved through Jesus’ story, but I was wrong.
Every Christian can have multiple testimonies. They are about any way the Lord has worked in your story. It doesn’t have to be some fancy elaborate tale. It can be as simple as you read and understood the gospel story and chose to accept it. It can also be something that you saw the Lord do recently or a prayer that He answered.
If you have a testimony, it means that you’ve experienced the Lord. Your Almighty, All-Sovereign King of the heavens and earth took a moment to connect with you. He may have answered a basic or desperate prayer. He could have rescued you from physical danger. Or, perhaps He just whispered a word of love to you. Whatever your testimony is, it’s important because it involves the Lord.
There are times when the Lord will want you to share your story with anyone that will listen. We see this throughout all of the gospels and the epistles. They are filled with stories of the Lord’s work in His children’s lives, from the simple to extravagant.
There are other times when the Lord will want you to keep His message to yourself. There may be an answered prayer or something He’s shown you that is only for you to know. It’s Him being intimate and personal with you. You will have stories He wants you to keep hush throughout your life like he did the apostle Paul when he saw into the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). Or, He will bring it up later on for you to share at a specific time.
Take Jesus healing people for example:
- There were people Jesus told to keep their source of healing hidden.
“While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?”
When Jesus overheard what was said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” He did not let anyone accompany him except Peter, James, and John, James’s brother. They came to the leader’s house, and he saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child’s father, mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was. Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”).Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded. Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and told them to give her something to eat.” – Mark 5:35-43 (bold added)
This could have been because the community around the family mocked and laughed at Him. Their hearts were hard towards Jesus.
This also may have stirred the crowd and prematurely led to Jesus’ death by the reaction of people’s fear of His power. Others might have tried to make Jesus their national king. Either way, Jesus had His reasons.
- Then there were others the Lord told to share the good news:
“They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him…
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
“What is your name?” he asked him.
“My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there…
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.” Mark 5:1-2,6-13, 18-20 (Bold added)
So, how do you know which testimonies are to be hidden and which should be revealed? Ask the Lord. He’ll tell you. If He tells you no, treasure it within your heart. If He tells you to share it, then be bold and do so. Take joy in the work of the Lord and the grace and honour He gave in choosing you to experience it.
