I remember years ago sharing a WOW moment with God. I call it WOW moments because it is good news! When I was finished the friend said, "I guess my family is lucky. We don't have any stories." It took me a long time to know how I should have answered that. We all have a story. They may not be earth shattering. I have ordinary story after ordinary story to share but what makes them extraordinary is the encounter with God! Psalm 40: 2, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." I think we all have a story to share if we recognize what God has done for us! Our testimony does not end until we exit this life.
I do not have a lightening bolt testimony of my initial salvation. But as I continue to grow in my relationship with God, I continue to have more testimonies about Him. Giving a testimony means we are giving God the glory! Mark 5:19, Jesus said something similar, “Now, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”
Really we all have the same "story". We were all sinners separated from God. We decided we needed a Savior so we turned from our sin, put our faith in Him and accepted the free gift of salvation by Jesus Christ dying on the cross. We were headed for hell and now we are going to Heaven! That is our testimony! God tells us to share our hope! 1 Peter 3: 15-16, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."
The story of the woman at the well in John 4: 1-42 tells about her encounter with Jesus. After the woman left Jesus, the text says in John 4: 28-29, "Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?'”
Notice the woman went straight to town to tell the people. She left her water jar! She had come there to fill her water jar! She was in such awe because of what Jesus had told her about herself she could not keep it to herself!
John 4: 39, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” Many of the Samaritans BELIEVED because of the woman's TESTIMONY! Her testimony was short, simple and sweet. Nothing fancy. She invited them to "come see" Jesus. She shared what He had done. Then planted a seed saying, "could this be the Messiah?"
See how important your testimony is! As Dieter F Uchtdorf said, "Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someones life for eternity." We never know when we share with someone where they are in their walk. They may believe, they may not. They may believe in miracles, they may believe in chance. By sharing our first hand experiences and encounters with God they know what we believe. Isaiah 55: 10-11, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." In other words, God promises that His Word will never return void.
What has God done in your life?
God picked me up out of the mire and made me whole. He also helped me through grief and heartaches that I couldn't have done it without Him, thanks be to God!