They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death.
Revelation 12:11
“What do you
find hardest about being a writer?”
Situations
like this, was the answer
on the tip of my tongue.
Fortunately I
had prayed for God to put a guard over my tongue and I managed to stammer out a
less revealing answer.
What situation?
It was an interview with me as the focus—instead of me as the interviewer. You
see, I’m a background sort of girl, and any kind of attention makes me
desperately uncomfortable. And, in my mind, I’ve always thought that was the way
it should be. After all, I’m only where I am because of God’s blessings—not
anything I’ve done. So situations that bring attention to me seem to be
diametrically opposed to bringing glory to God.
Today, I was
told differently.
Who dared to
argue with my supposed biblical point of view? Nobody very important—just GOD!
It's the verse above that stopped me in my tracks.
There it was,
one powerful word—TESTIMONY—that little word caused me a death of
sorts. The death of my quiet, comfortable, life-in-the-shadows life. You see,
my testimony is what God has done in my life. And God wants to use that to defeat
the enemy.
Have you
ever tried to share a personal testimony without talking about yourself? Don’t
bother trying—trust me. It’s just not possible.
So what am I
going to do with this information? The only thing I can do—try to be
obedient—no matter how uncomfortable it makes me. Because the one thing I do
know is that this life isn’t about me.
Now it's your turn, where have you resisted sharing what God's done in your life under the mistaken impression your were being humble? I encourage you to take the same uncomfortable steps I am!
Truthfully, I've done that most of my life, Edie. Because of the same reason you have--believing it was a demonstration of humility. But when we think about it, telling people about ourselves GLORIFIES GOD because He's the one who made it all possible.
ReplyDeleteI love the truth of your testimony. You're right, it's the only way people will know what He's done for us!
ReplyDeleteGood post! Been reading your book and trying to apply it. Finally found your blogspot. Thanks for your help at the writer's conference this week end. Will try to master blogging then anxious to get on to learning to Tweet.
ReplyDeleteFor the past two months I prayed and asked God if He wanted me to go to the BRMCWC then please send me (paying) writing jobs to help pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI received two requests for revisions, two acceptances for articles, and two speaking engagements. This is not normal for me at all (within a 2 month time span!) In fact, many of these things came after waiting for responses for over six months.It all just came together in the past two months.
I give all the glory to God. I know I have to do my part of the work, but God is opening all the doors. (Oh, and He did allow a rejection to come my way, too!) It's all good and it's awesome to see how He works.