I like to keep a two-column version of my testimony, with one column for what I’ve done and the other for what God has done. Use this method to measure your soaking and ministry opportunities. You’ll soon collect some remarkable testimonies.
I learned this principle when I was involved in street witnessing in Detroit. I’m not particularly gifted as an evangelist – I don’t find it easy to talk to strangers, and I don’t have a manner that seems to put people at ease. But the compassion in my heart outweighed the limitations in my personality, and I started going out every week.
Two churches had jointly opened a coffee-house ministry, and they always needed people who would go out into the neighborhood and share Christ with people. The neighborhood was dangerous and they sent us two-by-two, and they gave each team a bundle of 24 booklets written by Dave Wilkerson.
Within a few weeks, I learned that by the time I had given out one bundle of booklets, I was sure to have at least one Holy-Spirit-encounter with somebody.
I could measure my activity – all I had to do was hand out a bundle of booklets. I couldn’t control God’s activity; there was no faucet I could open to get the water of life flowing. But without fail, if I handed out a bundle of booklets, God would do something that touched somebody.
Sometimes someone came to Christ. Sometimes a Christian was encouraged. Sometimes someone who had given up on the things of God came alive again.
The issue for me was this: was I willing to keep handing out 24 booklets every week, knowing I couldn’t make anything happen, but also knowing that I would see God work in His own way if I would do my part?
Frankly, I thought it was a bargain. And it took the pressure off as I handed out my booklets; I didn’t have to make anything happen. Sooner or later, God would.
This is why the online school of the Spirit calls for you to commit yourself to 2-3 times of soaking each week, and to encourage 5 people. It’s something you can do whether God does anything or not – and even when you are in a low time personally, you can still reach out to others. None of it is particularly hard; use the gift mix you already have to give as much of Jesus as you can.
I didn’t have to write anything down when I handed out booklets. Someone had already counted out 24. If I simply handed them out, I knew how many people I had tried to reach out to.
But when it’s a matter of using an opportunity that springs up spontaneously in daily life, it’s helpful to jot something down so, at the end of the month, I can remember that I’ve done it.
I use one column to list what I’ve done and another to list what God has done. It’s just as easy to write it all as a list, but I like to make it easy to see at a glance what God has done. Often a week or two passes and someone gets back to me with a testimony. Once in a while, one small testimony turns into an avalanche of divine activity.
Why keep a record? First, it’s good to be determined to stay active in ministry. It’s easy to get busy with other things and to let it slide.
Second, it’s encouraging to look back and see what God has led you to do, and to see what He’s done. It’s easy to think we aren’t doing anything, or that we have no ministry opportunities. God wants to convince us otherwise.
Third, the process of writing it down forces you to notice what you and God are doing. There are a lot of testimonies we might simply overlook if we don’t make a point of noticing them. Don’t throw them away. They glorify God. And that’s the most important thing you and I will ever do.
Stan Smith :: © 2008, GospelSmith :: http://www.GospelSmith.com
The Miracle Lifestyle 