Advance warning – my story of faith is not dramatic! I know I am not the only one here who has sat in a church meeting where the minister has asked for people to give testimony or to talk about finding the light and thought “but I’ve always believed”. The reality is my story is ordinary and mundane.
I had a Christian family and learnt about Jesus from an extremely young age. I’ve belonged to and been part of church my whole life.
And, having explained that I have no dramatic Hollywood style event to entertain you with, I could stop here …
…or I could, which is what I’m going to do, continue anyway and tell you more – including why it is that ordinary mundane testimonies can be a blessing to us.
Being a Christian and following a Christian life is difficult – and it’s supposed to be. Remember that old adage that implies that something’s worth is measured by how hard you had to work for it. God, through His grace and His Son Jesus Christ, has given us the most valuable gift of all; but to follow in our Lord’s footsteps takes hard work and perseverance.
We are called to faithfulness. We are persecuted, we suffer, we face trials tribulations. temptation and false teachers trying to send us off track.
When times are difficult we are tempted to give up and many do fall away. The epistles remind us to persevere, to put on God’s armour. to stand firm and to ensure in following Jesus Christ.
Remaining steadfast, staying on the narrow path and being faithful teach the need to focus on persevering, to continue to put our trust in God and to not falter.
The well known poem about the footsteps in the sand really is true. God never leaves us. Whilst people fall away and leave Him; He does not abandon us.
When I give my burdens to Him I feel a physical lightness and literally feel the weight removed from my shoulders as He takes the load for me.
When times are easy, I feel His presence walking beside me and we enjoy the journey together.
If things are more difficult I feel His hand in mine.
In times of great trial He is supporting me or carrying me if you like.
And in times of great sorrow I feel His arms around me as He embraces me with His great love and comfort.
This is certainly a great blessing and in return I pray that God will continue to fill me with His love so that it can overflow through me to others.
We are called to carry each other’s burdens, encourage and bring back the wanderers. We are called to follow Christ’s example to aspire to God’s standard and to repent of all – however mundane – that makes us guilty of not reaching that standard.
God told us to pass His teachings to our children. Having parents, teachers, ministers and peers who did this points to God’s continued faithfulness as does having been preserved in the faith. God catches me when I stumble.
He has blessed me and kept me. He has blessed you and kept you.
So let us sing of His great love for evermore and make His faithfulness known through all generations and let us give thanks to God.
Just because 