Okay, so on Friday something crazy happened. The Holy Spirit moved in ways I had yet to experience on the Race. On Thursday, I emailed my pastor back in Nashville asking for prayer. I told him Jesus was asking me to share my testimony; I thought He meant via blog. That day I was asked by my team leader if I would be willing to share my testimony to the mega church in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. I agreed, realizing this was what He was talking about. I apparently had a narrow view of His vision for me. I was scared though. My fear diminished as He reminded me it was His story He has given me in order to bring forth His glory.
Know this was what God wanted me to do, I wasn’t any less nervous. As the service started I felt my heart pounding. I prayed. It pounded. I prayed. It pounded. I prayed. Although I had spent my day in preparation and prayer, I was still nervous. I wasn’t nervous about my story, I was more nervous about trying to keep it organized and on track. Most know that I can be scatter brained and many times when I tell a story I have to backtrack every few sentences because I get ahead of myself. Anyways, as I prayed asking for calmed nerves and focus when I spoke, the Lord reminded me it didn’t matter what I said. He reminded me that it didn’t matter what words I said, the Holy Spirit could use them to pierce people’s hearts and bring them revelation. He reminded me of these verses:
1 Corinthians 2:3-5 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
It calmed me knowing it didn’t matter what I said, it wouldn’t be me talking anyways, the Holy Spirit would help me. When it was my turn to talk, I said one last prayer and God’s peace literally came over me. My nerves were gone; the Holy Spirit’s presence was thick in the room and I knew He would use my words and I was excited.
I had 5 minutes to speak and in that time I was able to give a backbone of my testimony. I was able to discuss my “lukewarm” Christian upbringings as well as the drugs and alcohol I abused in college. I told them I never really trusted Jesus as my Savior until I was off and alone on my own. I talked about my sexual sin which led to pre-cancerous cells. I talked about questioning God and asking Him to take away any unbelief. I then told the crowd how He answered that prayer the very next night. I told them how the Holy Spirit made Himself so very present inside of my body, His breath was my breath, my heartbeat was His heartbeat. I told them about God giving a woman visions of me. How I realized He really did love me; He had people I didn’t even know fighting for me. I ended with the miraculous healing that took place in my body. How although the doctor “saw” the squamous cells, after prayer and Him taking away doubt, I was healed. Physically healed; no explanation but Jesus. I told them that was the day I realized I truly was forgiven for my past, I am pure in Jesus’ eyes. I am loved by Him and that His love is enough.
As I walked off the stage, I looked to my left and a lady in her 60’s (my guess) gave me a fist pump then raised the roof to Jesus. It was really encouraging. Through the rest of the service she was eyeing me; every time we made contact she gave Jesus another fist pump with a smile.
After the service 2 people from the congregation came and spoke to me. One told me she was going through a similar situation as the one I had shared. We talked for a bit then we were able to pray over her. After tear-filled hugs, she left. The other was a guy about my age. He told me how he had been on the wrong track. He told me of some recent mistakes he had made, which led to an accident. He shared the guilt he felt with me. It was a total God thing because although I didn’t discuss that part of testimony in that service, I have felt similar guilt. I had recently released it in Guatemala, but I was able comfort him. We prayed together before he left. If for no other reason than for these two people, God had me share that night for a reason.
As we were leaving the church a fellow racer told me he saw tears flowing all around the church. (I wouldn’t know. I am so short I could hardly see over the podium). Another girl told me the Spirit was so thick she couldn’t sit still. I then found out on top of the 1,000 people in church we apparently were on tv and the radio not to mention the podcast and live feed telling our testimonies. God blew me away again. I thought He was going to use my story for my blog followers, little did I know He was going to use it for the country of El Salvador.
(this was the room we talked in)
So this week as you pray, thank God for the story He has given you. Don’t ever be afraid to speak it out, even if you think it is insignificant. God doesn’t make insignificant stories and I guarantee He will use it.
