Let me set the scene for you regarding this photo.
I was sixteen years old on a mission’s trip to Germany. It was a bike tour from Bingen to Bonn where we stopped along the way at different towns and ministered in the streets through pantomimes. Our faces painted, no words just gestures, and sharing our faith through action. A crowd would gather around us, and after our pantomime act someone would speak and share their faith testimony.
I have never enjoyed being in front of a crowd. My fair skin will often reveal my nervousness with red blotchy patches of embarrassment. However, this time there was a sense of comfort hiding behind that white face paint and only having to express actions and not words.
But then one day on our mission tour, I was approached with the most interesting question by one of the leaders. He asked me, “Would you share your testimony today after our street scene?”
I honestly answered him, “I don’t have a testimony!”
He looked a bit puzzled and questioned me, “Julie, are you a follower of Christ?”
I nervously laughed, “Um, yes but I don’t have a story. I have never done drugs, been involved in a crime, and I made a decision to follow Christ when I was about five years old. My life is pretty boring. I don’t have a testimony!”
You have to understand my frame of reference here. I was raised in a ministry called Teen Challenge. It’s a faith-based drug rehabilitation program that has ministered to many men and women with life-controlling problems. It’s a ministry that I have recently written about in my book titled Giving Hope An Address.
At sixteen years old, all I understood about sharing a testimony was that it somehow had to include a former life of drugs, abuse, crime, prostitution, and maybe even a prison sentence. That was all I knew about sharing what Jesus Christ had done in a person’s life.
When you grow up listening to residents in a Teen Challenge program tell their testimonies of amazing transformations of God’s saving power from addiction, your own somewhat sheltered life looks a little dull in comparison.
But I’ll never forget the words the youth leader said to me after my naïve proclamation. He looked into my eyes and pointedly said, “Julie, you have one of the most powerful testimonies. You have been caught in the grasp of God’s hands at an early age, and by God’s grace YOU ARE KEPT.”
I still choke back tears remembering his words to me. I will never forget them.
Even when I feel like I don’t live up to the life I am supposed to live as a follower of Christ, I still remember— I am kept.
When life is hard—I am kept.
When I experience pain—I am kept.
When I feel unloved—I am kept.
When obedience is difficult— I am kept.
God’s promises are true whether we fall in the grasp of His hands at five years old or fifty years old.
One of the reasons I wrote my recent book was to express my gratitude for all those who walked through the doors of Teen Challenge and were willing to let God transform their lives as testimonies of His grace and mercy. Their life transformations and their willingness to share their stories, sealed in my heart a devotion to Christ that has kept me. I am always learning and growing in the knowledge of who Christ is in my life, but I can STILL say with confidence that I AM KEPT.
Never underestimate the power of your testimony, friends!
Share what God has done in your life no matter how boring or how tragic you think your testimony is. Never let embarrassment or shame keep you from sharing your story with others. We are called as Christians to share the light of Christ to the world.
It would certainly be easy just to share my faith through actions and not words. To hide behind a painted face and not reveal who I really am. But I can’t do that no matter how difficult it is to express myself with spoken words and with blotchy skin. Because when you experience the powerful testimony of being kept by the hands of God, it’s a place you want others to experience with you.
Share the hope of being KEPT. It’s a testimony that never gets old.
Note:
My blog is changing. I want to use this platform to share other people’s stories and testimonies. Today I started with my own. From time to time, I might share another person’s story with you through a blog or interview format. So stay tuned by subscribing to this blog.
And in case you missed it, here’s another powerful testimony by my friend Kelly that I shared last year.
http://www.theradiancefoundation.org/eva/