By David ReayThursday 12 Sep 2013LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Psalm 22:22
I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people. (NLT)
It is good to hear the testimonies of people when the people of God are gathered together. How sad it is if our gatherings are so controlled and managed and time bound that we never get to hear of such workings of God in the midst of his people.
And yet this does present challenges-apart from the need to apply a stopwatch to those who can’t quite figure out when to bring a testimony to a full stop! A person testifying to a wonderful healing might be heard by others who have just lost a loved one to sickness despite much prayer. A person testifying to the timely provision of a new job is testifying to others who are getting one knock-back after another. A person telling of a miraculous restoration of a broken relationship is speaking to those whose prayers in this regard have not been answered.
None of this means we forbid such testimonies. Just because we are not all rejoicing in immediately recognisable good news doesn’t mean we ban all such rejoicing. But those sharing such good news need to beware of ‘universalising’ their experiences. God will work in different ways in different people. By all means praise God in the assembly for your healing: but always remember that others may not be having a similar experience.
In the end,we can and should testify to our own unique experiences of God’s goodness. But ultimately,we are all to testify to God’s ongoing goodness and care for us no matter what our unique experiences. We finally testify to the character of God rather than our own immediate experience of it.
Blessings
David Reay