Testimonies

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This week’s writing challenge is to write in the adventure genre. I’m having a little trouble getting motivated to come up with anything for it, however. Not feeling very “adventuresome” today. I used to be an extremely adventuresome person. At one time, I’d probably have tried anything ... at least once. In fact, there are very few things I have not already at least tried.

I love to fly. I could spend days in/on the water. I love to play music on a variety of wind instruments and I could dance before the Lord for hours. The best way I know to spend my free time, when I can afford to do so, is to drive up to the mountains in southeast Oklahoma and hike around until it gets dark. I love horseback riding and fishing, photography, painting, and many other forms of art. I suppose I can make an adventure out of just about anything.

But my adventures have not all been as picturesque or as peaceful. My foundation, now solid in Christ, has not always been so. I came from a shaky foundation, one marked with rage and disappointments and a rather dysfunctional lifestyle. I could tell a few stories that would raise the hair on the back of your neck or bring you to your knees in tears. But what’s the purpose? The past is just that ... the past.

I looked for anything and everything to cover the sadness and the shame and the tragedies in my life. But most things hurt more than they helped and I still had to wake up with ME come dawn. Even when I was not alone, I found that I was very alone. And one day, a day when I least expected it, the dawn came and I woke up to a voice as clear as though someone were standing right next to me: “Clean house. You have company.” He's been my Guest of Honor ever since and my life, since then, has been a series of rather interesting adventures.

But I have to admit that it’s not all been a bed of roses. As I dug into the Word of God and found promises of healing and restoration and salvation, the Words “I will never leave you nor forsake you” took hold of my heart and they were the same Words that would hold me up through tragedies yet to come. And come they did. But I had a strong Tower to lean on. I still do. He’s my Always Tower, my Strength and my Shield, my Comforter, my God. He’s my Best Friend.

I’m going through some pretty rough trials at the moment. And I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like. I know that today it is raining hard outside. My lawn needs to be mown badly, but I’m sure my plants are loving every drop. I choose to be thankful for God’s perfect plans. Though I oftentimes don’t understand them. Maybe we’re not always supposed to understand. That’s where trust comes in. I trust Him in the midst of these storms. Whatever damage is done, I know that He always works all things together for my good.

I love Him. And I know that despite the suffering I must endure in this world, I am called according to His purpose. And He will never leave me, nor will He ever forsake me. Revelation of John 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. I place my suffering and its outcome in the hands of the Lord of lords and the King of kings, the Lamb of God, the Great Over-comer.

And in the midst of it all, though my weeping may endure for a night, I stand on the promise that joy will always come in the morning. John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
© Joyce Pool

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