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 I was recently visiting with a good friend. Her comment to me went something like this, “Nita, you always have such great testimonies that encourage me.  God does such amazing things in your life.”

Have you ever looked at someone else’s life and had a similar thought?

The truth is, if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher!  You must go through a test to have a testimony.

I can encourage women who are living with a spouse struggling with alcohol because we were on that journey for seven years.  I referred to them as my years from hell, but I hung onto my only REFUGE.  In time, HE delivered and HE restored and we have a powerful testimony of God’s unrelenting faithfulness.

We can encourage those who are fighting for someone at death’s door -including discouraging words from the doctors. Knowing and declaring the healing power and grace of our God, along with the prayers of fellow believers, brought our son through to life.  It is a victorious testimony.

We can encourage those struggling financially – having to make a choice between a gallon of milk or a field trip for their child; or whether or not to pay the mortgage or the car payment.  Why?  Because we have been there and navigated those troubled waters – holding on to the hem of HIS garment.

We can encourage those who have had a child kidnapped because, yes, we have been there too.  We observed God do what man thought was impossible – in His time and in His way.  Our job was to forgive and once again, hold on in faith with great patience.

I am hoping you see a pattern here.  For a test to become a testimony we must walk in faith – allowing God to do His work.  The scripture puts it this way:

2 Corinthians 1:3-5  (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

Romans 5:3-5 New International Version (NIV)

³ Not only so, but we^[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

So when we are faced with the adversities of life – and we will be – we have a choice to make.  We can hold fast to our Source, our Refuge, and trust Him to work things together for good; or we can turn to fear and despair, creating more chaos and turning bitter, not better.

My friends, how do you choose to navigate life?  Will you allow the power of God to turn your test into a testimony?  Will your story be to His glory?  The choice is yours.

~Nita