The Power of Stories

When my son was a few months old, I was sitting in a women’s Bible study at church and we were discussing the book, The Forgotten God by Francis Chan (I highly recommend it). As I sat there and heard the women talk about how they listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, I was on the edge of my seat.

I wanted that! I wanted to hear the Lord speak to me! This would take the idea of having a relationship with God to a whole new level. It wouldn’t just be me talking TO God it would mean we could have a conversation.

WHAT!?!?!

My mind was blown.

After our time was over, I immediately grabbed my kids from the nursery and rushed home. I couldn’t stop thinking about what we had discussed and I kept thinking about a story that someone shared that was about Beth Moore. So, I began searching YouTube to see if I could find her personal account of how she clearly heard the voice of the Holy Spirit. I found it and was blown away. She shared how she heard the voice of the Lord ask her to do something, how she acted on it, lead someone to the Lord, and radically blessed someone who needed to be taken care of.

Again, WHAT!?!?!

I had just spent the morning with women who hear the Holy Spirit speak to them and then watched Beth Moore talk about the same thing. My mind was reeling with excitement! If the Lord is speaking to them today – right now – then He can do the same thing for me, right?!

I wanted that and I immediately prayed,

“Lord, I want to hear your voice. Teach me to know what it sounds like. I am one of your sheep, just like you talked about in John 10:27, ‘My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.’ YOU know me and I want to follow your voice. I want the same thing all these women are talking about. Help me!”

(I highly recommend praying the same way. Your life will forever be changed.)

The earth didn’t shake. The Heavens didn’t open. God didn’t appear to me in my living room. I sat there with my kids around me wondering, “What now?”

I immediately thought of something I had just learned about the Holy Spirit and how He is the BEST teacher.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 14:26

When relying on that aspect of His character and as His student, I knew I couldn’t just sit by and idly wait. I needed to be an active participant in this relationship.

I started to pray more. I started to listen. I started to ask questions. God was and IS so faithful, but I needed to be open to Him. That was the catalyst to the most incredible journey that I have ever been on and that I continue to experience and it all started because people shared their testimony.

Since then, I am always eager to hear stories of how God is at work in others’ lives because it builds a hope in me that God can do the same in my life!

Stories of signs, wonders, and miracles – stories of His faithfulness to His children and how He is actively involved in others’ lives today get me so excited. It creates anticipation for more of God and how He can work in my life.

What is so exciting about God is that there is not a prerequisite to having Him work in your life. He wants to be in a love relationship with you NO MATTER WHAT!

He created you in His image and is making Himself known to you. He is ALWAYS inviting you to love Him back.

Sometimes we are just not aware of how He is working and we need to be reminded or have it pointed out to us. Or, sometimes we need to hear about how God is at work and then reflect on our own lives.

That is what the power of the testimony can do. It can bring us to a realization that He is in our lives, He is present, and He is loving on me.

Why Are Testimonies Important

TESTIMONY! It is a powerful word. If we take a look at the word testimony in Hebrew, one way it can be translated is “do it again.” If God did that once AND He never changes then He can act that same way again. Every time we speak (or read) about testimonies of His faithfulness we are releasing hope – a hope for the future that the Lord will move in my life.

Revelation speaks to the power of testimony and what it can bring to the future. “…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

Each of us hold the testimony of Jesus and it is meant to be shared!

That testimony speaks to what He can do in our lives and in the lives of others! God has promised us that He NEVER CHANGES. Isn’t that exciting?

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Hebrews 13:8

One of my favorite quotes about testimony comes from an online sermon I heard.

Testimonies are important because they reveal God’s nature, they reveal His heart, what He values, His interactions with people and His history with mankind. Testimonies prophetically speak into what the Lord can do for others and it can encourage people to know that we have a living God that is active and alive.

Bill Johnson

God wants to continue to reveal His character to you. He wants to “do it again” in your life.

I created this blog to celebrate testimonies of God’s faithfulness and to make His amazing works known to His children (you and me). I want to help create an excitement for the Lord, so that we can be fully aware of what He is doing.

Every month, I will post a story of someone like you, who has a testimony of God’s faithfulness in their life. May this be a space where we celebrate ALL that God is doing around us AND be expectant for God to move in our lives as we share our God encounters together.

What stories of God have you heard lately? What is God doing in your life? Please share it with me. I would love to hear every detail.