Our Testimony

“You never gave up on me
you never gave up on me
You are my testimony”

This song by Zach Williams has been rolling around in my mind since church this morning. It’s such a powerful song filled with such truth! This particular part of the song has just touched me today. What are you facing that has caused you to feel like God has given up on you? Have you strayed from Him and can’t seem to find your way back? Have you been standing in the fire with no hope in sight and you feel like God’s given up and isn’t working on your behalf? I don’t know what place you find yourself in, but God does…and He hasn’t given up on you! He hasn’t given up on writing your story. I am here to tell you tonight that He’s still writing. The pen has never left His hand…not even once. It doesn’t matter if you can see anything being written or not…He’s still writing! He’s still working!

The other month the scripture in Revelation 12:11 came to my mind. It says: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” I’ve heard this scripture quoted a lot growing up; I’ve even quoted it myself, but I found myself asking the Lord, “what is our testimony? I get that we can overcome things with Your blood, but what is our testimony?” I heard the Lord say, “your testimony is My Word!” The Bible…the Truth of His Word is what we confess as our testimony in whatever circumstances we’re facing. It doesn’t matter if your circumstances are different than mine. It doesn’t matter if your struggles aren’t what I struggle with. It doesn’t matter if your battles aren’t what I battle against. Our remedy is the same. The way we achieve our victory is the same! It’s by proclaiming God’s Word as our testimony! We can’t confess what our eyes are seeing in the natural, we have to confess what God’s Word says about our circumstances! I heard this statement months ago and it has just stuck with me. I honestly don’t even remember who said it, but it’s powerful! “God’s truth trumps the facts of our situation!” It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are screaming at you, God’s truth…His Word, trumps the facts of your circumstances! And it’s true! Nothing is unredeemable to God! No one is too lost to be saved. No one is too hurt to be healed. No one is too far away, that God can’t reach out and bring close! Nothing is impossible with God…and He never gives up on us!

So, what does God’s Word say? It says so much!!! That’s why it’s so imperative that we dig into His Word daily. We can’t proclaim something we don’t know. The enemy knows this and he tries his very best to keep us away. To keep us distracted from the most important thing. In my last blog post I shared that I hadn’t been spending enough time just sitting with God or reading His Word…it’s something that I am still struggling with. I am routine and schedule type person and it’s been hard since I had my baby to find my “new routine.” So my prayer life has looked and felt scattered! It has not felt very effective, and that honestly made me feel guilty! That led me to offering even more excuses to not sit in God’s presence because I felt like I had let Him down. But now I see that all those guilty and shameful thoughts were really from the enemy. It was a tactic to keep me from experiencing the very real and beautiful place of resting in the presence of my Father. There’s so much encouragement and hope in the Word of God! That’s why God wants us to read it. To absorb it. To meditate on it and get it in us…because it gives us hope! It gives us wisdom. It lights our way…but it can only do that when we read it and know it. The enemy knows this and he does his very best to keep us away. I encourage you, if you have have been struggling with the same feelings I have, don’t waste another second feeling guilty! Get into God’s presence and just ask Him to forgive you! Move forward and ask Him to give you a new passion for His presence and new revelation of His Word; He will do it!

Let’s go back and delve into what God’s Word says. These are a few of the scriptures that I have quoted so many times this year. These are the scriptures that brought hope and peace to my heart in very troubling times. I hope they minister to you tonight. I hope that God ministers to you tonight. I am literally in tears as I write this because I have just been thinking about how much we have been through this year and sheer impossibilities of the circumstances we faced and walked through…and my heart is just so very thankful that God never gave up on us! He still hasn’t given up on us…and He hasn’t given up on you, either! God is always at work in our lives whether we can see it and feel it or not…He is still at work!!

Isaiah 41:10 (AMPC)
“Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 (AMPC)
“Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 (AMPC)
“Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

John 11:22 (AMPC)
“And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.”

John 11:40 (AMPC)
“Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God?”

Again, you may not be battling what I have battled, so these scriptures may not be the encouragement you specifically need…but I encourage you to dig into God’s Word and find the scriptures that do! Speak those truths to yourself and over your situation! I pray as you do, you will begin seeing God’s mighty hand working miracles in your life…because there truly is nothing that is impossible to God!