Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Testimonies from the past few days
(because they bring glory to God and edify the body!)
. : I was walking to gospel ensemble rehearsal after a long day of classes, the sort of 8:30 to 5:00 day (granted, with two hour-long breaks, so no complaining!) that I thought I had left behind in high school, in the wet and cold, and, having not gotten to eat lunch, was feeling pretty hungry--and tired, and cold, and a little overwhelmed by the tasks swirling around in my head, and in a less-than-wonderful mood overall. But see, I'm learning to walk by faith and not feelings, so I prayed, "Lord, thank you that I get to go sing to you right now!" As I looked up I noticed a woman walking toward me. We'd been classmates the first semester of our freshman year, and often said hello in passing, but never really talked. She was carrying a steaming bag of fresh popcorn. As we passed on the sidewalk, she stopped and asked me how I was doing, where I was going, and where I bought my rain boots--and then offered me some of her popcorn! God provides even in the small ways :)
. : Because of the project I did this summer, combined with the perks of being an assistant RA, my financial aid statement looked pretty good this year. I didn't even have to turn in any money from summer earnings to contribute! So when I checked my monthly financial statement, I was surprised to see a large credit to my account billed as a "Department Transfer" appear. I figured it was a mistake, but was convicted to pray: "Father, thank you for this money that you've given to me! I'm claiming it to do your work, however you would lead me to use it." The next day I emailed the Finance Office to ask where the money had come from, and I was surprised when they replied to say it had not been a mistake, but that it was a credit from my summer project--which I had thought had already been given to me in its entirety. So I thanked God, because that money was his all along; He was just gracious enough to let me be a channel to funnel it where it needs to go. Now my prayer is to be a good steward with it, and I'm asking Him to show me where to give it.
. : My freshman and sophomore year roommate, who had joined my Bible study and dedicated her life to Jesus about 8 months ago, always encourages me by sharing how God is answering her prayers. She has really incredible faith to see Him working and speaking to her! I don't see her too much any more, since we live on opposite ends of campus, but I bumped into her on my way to a noon prayer meeting yesterday and invited her to come. She agreed, a little hesitant if we were going to be praying aloud, but I assured her she could just pray silently. When we got to where everyone was gathered, one of the leaders was finishing sharing a message about how that prayer time was a "prayer training ground" of sorts, where we were all encouraged to pray out and learn to let our prayers be shaped by God's leading. She added that even when we are hesitant to pray, this time is a time to lead out anyway, trusting that God will give us words as we step out in faith. After that we broke up into small groups to pray, and I got to pray with my former roommate. It was so encouraging to have that time together, and to see how God had prepared both our meeting and that message for such a time as that.
. : On Sunday night as I was studying, I began to feel sick, in that creeping-dread sort of way when you just know that tomorrow you will feel much worse: The lymph nodes in my neck where swollen, my throat was beginning to feel sore, my body ached, and I felt weak and tired. Right now there are more people on campus than I think I've ever seen who are sick with similar symptoms, and, almost convinced it was my sure fate to join them, I was not looking forward to a week of illness while trying to study for an organic chemistry midterm. The few days prior I had been meditating on healing, and the prophetic verse that declares "by His [Jesus'] wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) was called to my mind. Now, I think this verse is mostly about spiritual healing, in that through Jesus' wounds on the cross, we are healed of our spiritual disease and given peace, but Jesus also healed many people physically, so I decided to pray into that. "I'm not sick; by Jesus' wounds I am healed!" I declared. And I waited to see what would happen. I kept studying into the night, and when I woke up for class the next morning after fewer than the recommended hours of sleep for healthy college students, there was no remnant of sickness in my body. And there still isn't!
Praise God for all these--and (many, many) more!-- things. The reasons I gave above for sharing them were true, but I want to explain a little more. Each of these testimonies relates to faith, which I've come to define as standing on spiritual truth. What I mean by that is that there are two ways of looking at the world: physically, and spiritually. For example, when we look at the world physically, we see death: famine, evil, genocide, robbery, rape, and all sorts of evidence that the devil is indeed the prince of this world. Yet when we look with spiritual eyes, we see what is promised: life, healing, hope, victory, and many testimonies of the truth that, though we do not always see it with physical eyes, Jesus has already won the battle between Heaven and Hell by his sacrifice on the cross, and indeed is the Lord and King of this world.
Testimonies, then, aren't a sign of God's material blessing in itself. There are plenty of times that good things happen to us and we attribute them to our good planning, our charisma, or even dumb luck, and plenty of times that bad things happen to us and we recognize the truth of the Gospel hovering just below the physical surface (i.e., when my passport was stolen the day before I was supposed to leave Uganda last summer, it was a chance to rely on God to provide, and praise Him for protecting me; see also Joseph's story in Genesis 37-50, particularly 50:20). I don't have testimonies because God likes me more--though He does love me (and you!) more than I imagine. Rather, testimonies are a sign of faith, because it takes faith--which is a gift from God, not something we can conjure up by ourselves--to see beyond the physical and into the spiritual.
Thanks, Father, for testimonies of your faithfulness--and for the faith to recognize them!
. : I was walking to gospel ensemble rehearsal after a long day of classes, the sort of 8:30 to 5:00 day (granted, with two hour-long breaks, so no complaining!) that I thought I had left behind in high school, in the wet and cold, and, having not gotten to eat lunch, was feeling pretty hungry--and tired, and cold, and a little overwhelmed by the tasks swirling around in my head, and in a less-than-wonderful mood overall. But see, I'm learning to walk by faith and not feelings, so I prayed, "Lord, thank you that I get to go sing to you right now!" As I looked up I noticed a woman walking toward me. We'd been classmates the first semester of our freshman year, and often said hello in passing, but never really talked. She was carrying a steaming bag of fresh popcorn. As we passed on the sidewalk, she stopped and asked me how I was doing, where I was going, and where I bought my rain boots--and then offered me some of her popcorn! God provides even in the small ways :)
. : Because of the project I did this summer, combined with the perks of being an assistant RA, my financial aid statement looked pretty good this year. I didn't even have to turn in any money from summer earnings to contribute! So when I checked my monthly financial statement, I was surprised to see a large credit to my account billed as a "Department Transfer" appear. I figured it was a mistake, but was convicted to pray: "Father, thank you for this money that you've given to me! I'm claiming it to do your work, however you would lead me to use it." The next day I emailed the Finance Office to ask where the money had come from, and I was surprised when they replied to say it had not been a mistake, but that it was a credit from my summer project--which I had thought had already been given to me in its entirety. So I thanked God, because that money was his all along; He was just gracious enough to let me be a channel to funnel it where it needs to go. Now my prayer is to be a good steward with it, and I'm asking Him to show me where to give it.
. : My freshman and sophomore year roommate, who had joined my Bible study and dedicated her life to Jesus about 8 months ago, always encourages me by sharing how God is answering her prayers. She has really incredible faith to see Him working and speaking to her! I don't see her too much any more, since we live on opposite ends of campus, but I bumped into her on my way to a noon prayer meeting yesterday and invited her to come. She agreed, a little hesitant if we were going to be praying aloud, but I assured her she could just pray silently. When we got to where everyone was gathered, one of the leaders was finishing sharing a message about how that prayer time was a "prayer training ground" of sorts, where we were all encouraged to pray out and learn to let our prayers be shaped by God's leading. She added that even when we are hesitant to pray, this time is a time to lead out anyway, trusting that God will give us words as we step out in faith. After that we broke up into small groups to pray, and I got to pray with my former roommate. It was so encouraging to have that time together, and to see how God had prepared both our meeting and that message for such a time as that.
. : On Sunday night as I was studying, I began to feel sick, in that creeping-dread sort of way when you just know that tomorrow you will feel much worse: The lymph nodes in my neck where swollen, my throat was beginning to feel sore, my body ached, and I felt weak and tired. Right now there are more people on campus than I think I've ever seen who are sick with similar symptoms, and, almost convinced it was my sure fate to join them, I was not looking forward to a week of illness while trying to study for an organic chemistry midterm. The few days prior I had been meditating on healing, and the prophetic verse that declares "by His [Jesus'] wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) was called to my mind. Now, I think this verse is mostly about spiritual healing, in that through Jesus' wounds on the cross, we are healed of our spiritual disease and given peace, but Jesus also healed many people physically, so I decided to pray into that. "I'm not sick; by Jesus' wounds I am healed!" I declared. And I waited to see what would happen. I kept studying into the night, and when I woke up for class the next morning after fewer than the recommended hours of sleep for healthy college students, there was no remnant of sickness in my body. And there still isn't!
Praise God for all these--and (many, many) more!-- things. The reasons I gave above for sharing them were true, but I want to explain a little more. Each of these testimonies relates to faith, which I've come to define as standing on spiritual truth. What I mean by that is that there are two ways of looking at the world: physically, and spiritually. For example, when we look at the world physically, we see death: famine, evil, genocide, robbery, rape, and all sorts of evidence that the devil is indeed the prince of this world. Yet when we look with spiritual eyes, we see what is promised: life, healing, hope, victory, and many testimonies of the truth that, though we do not always see it with physical eyes, Jesus has already won the battle between Heaven and Hell by his sacrifice on the cross, and indeed is the Lord and King of this world.
Testimonies, then, aren't a sign of God's material blessing in itself. There are plenty of times that good things happen to us and we attribute them to our good planning, our charisma, or even dumb luck, and plenty of times that bad things happen to us and we recognize the truth of the Gospel hovering just below the physical surface (i.e., when my passport was stolen the day before I was supposed to leave Uganda last summer, it was a chance to rely on God to provide, and praise Him for protecting me; see also Joseph's story in Genesis 37-50, particularly 50:20). I don't have testimonies because God likes me more--though He does love me (and you!) more than I imagine. Rather, testimonies are a sign of faith, because it takes faith--which is a gift from God, not something we can conjure up by ourselves--to see beyond the physical and into the spiritual.
Thanks, Father, for testimonies of your faithfulness--and for the faith to recognize them!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)