Everyone's Got a Story

O Lord, you alone are my hope. I've trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you! My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. Psalm 71:5-7

I was raised in a Christian home and brought up in a spirit-filled, Bible-based, on-fire-for God, church. We weren't simply taught about Jesus, we were taught to be in full relationship with him. And for that I'm beyond blessed.

Problem is, around the time I hit my early twenties I fell into a trap. I was through college and married, even felt the first stirrings of a call into ministry...but I didn't feel worthy. Why? Because I was a Christian with no story.

Sure. I'd had my struggles. But I'd never been addicted to drugs, led a party-life, or slept around. I hadn't come from an abusive home or suffered any enormous losses in my life. 

Yes. God had shaped me. Yes, I had major hurts and hang-ups. But nothing that came with large neon lights. They all seemed like normal, growing up struggles. Even my darkest pits felt like shallow dips compared to others. Who was I to talk to anyone about Christ?

I actually lived that way for years. And I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not the only one. Downplaying what God had done in our lives because our trials don't seem large enough effectively shuts us up.

To that I say...stop it!

You are not a blank page with nothing happening in your life. Holding your tongue today instead of spreading gossip? That's a testimony of God's great work in your life. Finding contentment while you're folding laundry and changing diapers because you discovered God has a purpose and plan just for you? That's a testimony. And what about living a life free of the generational sins before you? One of my largest testimonies is how I can look back and see sins in my family burning down the line like a forest fire, only they didn't consume me. Why? Because God's saving power touched me at a young age, and His blood covered me. 

And for many of us, it's not that life hasn't happened around us, it's that God's strength has been demonstrated in how we handle what happens in life. We are not consumed by this world because we are held by the One who created it.

So, beloved, if you've not been consumed...if you're not living in the chains that ensnared those before you...if you're not the same today as you were yesterday... then you've got a testimony to tell. Don't let the devil tell you your story isn't important, because it is. 

Who will you share it with today?