Faith: witness

Have you ever been a witness in a courtroom?  The closest I've come was testimony before a Grand Jury.  It was a bit intimidating.  I knew that there would be consequences to my testimony; not only a trial but a jail sentence was a real possibility.

So what we say when we give testimony....what kind of witness we bring to the proceedings is very important.  We must be clear about what we know and clear about what we do not know.  We can't say Yes just because we want it to be that way.  We must stick to the truth and trust the system to work it all out.

Our witness to our faith is equally important.  Each person of faith is a reflection of the God s/he calls on.  We witness with both our words and our deeds.  Let's start with words.

Tell your story.  Tell us how God found you.  Tell us about all the questions you have had, all the situations when you turned towards God and insisted on a better explanation.  Tell us about the Aha! moments and those moments when your breath was taken away.  Witness to what you know, what you have experienced with this God of creation.

Stick with your story with God and leave out all the grander explanations and churchy sounding pronouncements.  Resist the temptation to pontificate on matters.  Try not to speak for God unless you are using God's own words, and even then, a great deal of humility is called for since we have amazing skills at twisting what God is saying to our own ends.

No two of us experience God exactly the same way - and yet your experience will help me find my experience.  I understand the power of a sunset; the relief of being healed; the fear of losing a loved one.  I understand the terror of the night and the arrows that fly by day.  I understand that sometimes the pain is so great that I will not be able to hear or see God, and God will wait alongside of me until I am able.

Find a passage of scripture that helps explain what you have experienced.  The Psalms are the perfect locale, but many of the stories of the Bible are equally powerful.  Hannah, childless and yet faithful, cried out to God for the gift of a son.....and her prayer was answered, and her answer was to dedicate that child to the Lord's work.  (1 Samuel)  Moses was in trouble with the law and couldn't speak effectively in front of others....and yet God called him to head his people out of slavery and into relationship with this God. (Exodus)  Dorcas was so dedicated to serving others through the beautiful garments she made that when she died, her companions held up those same beautiful garments as examples of God's love flowing through her.  (Acts 5)

Tell your story.  God is at work through your story; through you others see and come to know God.

Now that God has found you, let everyone else in on the story.