My Testimony

I believe that a Christian's testimony should be always evolving. We should always be telling others what Jesus has done for us, not only what happened "way back when He saved me" but also what happened yesterday, or five minutes ago, in our here-and-now, walking-what-I'm-talking daily life with Christ. The following, however, excerpted from Get Real! Embrace the Reality of Ruth, is my personal testimony of a significant spiritual marker in my walk with Christ.

I knew something was wrong when I knelt down to pray that
night. I hadn’t even gotten any words out. It was simply the act of kneeling and
bowing that startled me into realizing, for the first time in my life, the
familiar posture felt suddenly foreign. It had been a long time, I must admit,
since I had prayed. But still, I knew prayer was not supposed to feel so empty.
It was the summer before my senior year of high school. I had spent those
carefree days of vacation with the wrong attitude, at the wrong places, and in
the company of the wrong people. On that particular night, I was in my bedroom,
listening to the radio and thinking about how cool it was that I was going to be
a senior. That caused me to take an objective look at how I spent the previous
three years of high school. What had I accomplished? As a student, I was doing
all right. But what about as a person? The Lord brought to my mind the faces of
a couple of Christian girls at school. They had a far better witness than mine.
These young women stood out because they were more than just “good kids.” I
would always remember them as Christ followers.
I had spent a lot of my time
just being angry. I couldn’t stand many of the people I went to school with.
They had teased me relentlessly in middle school and completely ignored me in
high school, and I was mad. I couldn’t forget and I wouldn’t forgive. I could
give up the idea of anyone thinking of Christ and me in the same sentence. And
it occurred to me that for the most part, my high school years had been wasted,
squandered by the lukewarm testimony of an immature Christian. That night, when
I bowed my head, it was like nobody was there. I didn’t know what to say or do.
Feelings of remorse and regret began to fill my soul. Only one word came
tumbling over my lips: Father! And then everything changed.
His presence
filled my little room as I asked Him to forgive me. The wall of unconfessed sin
I had built over the course of time collapsed as He proved His faithfulness and
forgave me, true to His Word. I repented that night and my life took on a new
direction as I began to truly follow Christ.
There would be other times in
my life I would stumble and fall and find myself in the wrong place at the wrong
time with the wrong people. Still today, I’m not perfect. I’ll never be! That’s
why I need Jesus. His perfection covers my imperfection. His blood covers my
sin. That night, the focus of my heart became crystal clear. My goal and my
heart’s desire was (and still is) to be His—completely His--and completely
surrendered to His will for my life.

Adapted from Get Real! Embrace the Reality of Ruth by Rebecca Ingram Powell, 2007, All Rights Reserved.