making my steps secure : a testimony

Feb 27

my daughter heron & her best friend write weekly letters. they’re ages 16 & 17, don’t have phones or email, & only see each other in person for our monthly (all day, two-meal potluck!) house church gatherings, since they live two hours apart. in the in-between times they write handwritten/hand-painted notes of the usual happenings, often sharing testimonies of what God’s been doing in their lives. when i was growing up the word testimony usually meant, basically, someone’s spiritual “origin story”, but over the past year or so i’ve come to use the word more liberally, a little more like testify. this is often what my devotional times with the kids look like—a simple sharing of what God’s been doing in my life or theirs—testimonies, of what He’s been saying in & through scripture, heart proddings, dreams, circumstances. often i ask the kids (and also friends), what’s the Lord been showing you in scripture? how has He been showing up, & showing you the way? how has He been transforming you, or revealing His own glory & trustworthiness?

at some point i’ll share “my testimony” on here, but for now i’ll share a little testimony from the week that i shared with the family on a recent sunday.

the previous sunday i’d been prepping a few things for the coming week. josh & i each give each other three (kid-free) hours on sunday afternoons. i have the kids from after lunch, through quiet time into mid-afternoon. the kids & i clean the house together during part of that time. then josh takes them out on a “daddy date,” also fitting in a little grocery shop, & i have the house to myself until dinner. when he returns home with them & i’m still taking my time, he prepares a full & proper english breakfast for us for sunday supper! (he’s been doing this since he visited the UK last fall) anyway…during my free time i try to do something fun & restorative, like sew, while praying over the house & the week ahead. sometimes maybe i’ll prep a few things and/or make the house pretty in some way. as i anticipated the following week, i asked the Lord about what to do with my two littlest, ages 6 & 8, & He totally simplified it for me : sewing & spiritual formation are to be the priorities right now, along with ongoing reading lessons. that’s it! when asking for further wisdom on how, He laid it all out for me : hand sew, then machine sew. basic embroidery, then projects. instead of a sampler, have them sew…PARTY NAPKINS! more on this later… :) also, “begin to have a separate, early morning spiritual formation time with them while the olders are starting school.”

what followed was a bit of a difficult week, honestly! many things on my to-do list were left undone (both life-giving/personal & practical/household). children were facing various challenges, everything i tried to do took three times as long as it should have. but throughout the week i stayed anchored in Him, and guided by His Word. friends, this changes everything. it makes all the difference. He makes all the difference, because “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.”

i’ve gotten in the habit of writing everything down. verses i read that seem to have neon lights with arrows pointing to them, flashing, “this is for you!”, things He’s saying or i think He’s saying through scripture, circumstances, dreams, sermons, books, read-alouds, etc. and there is always something at work, some theme He’s building on, & i can easily re-trace the story, my spiritual journey, throughout the week. the scripture guideposts for the week, that had just “shown up” at appropriate moments, had been :

“But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NRSV‬‬
“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

“For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

“Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭133‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

on thursday afternoons heron usually watches her little sisters for three hours, and that’s my time to write or work on blogs/websites. she was sick that particular thursday, so we postponed it until friday. when i finally reached that long-awaited writing time (i look forward to it all week), i had a migraine. i spent the full time in bed. but do you know what the Lord did? well the pain was just tolerable enough that i could still think. and after a little battle on The Hill of Disappointment over how much hadn’t gotten done that week, & how much more wasn’t going to get done during those three precious hours, either, He guided me back through the week. i was able to readily access all of the scriptures He’d given me to lead me through the week. had i been faithful to follow through with the few & simple things on HIS to-do list for me that week? yes! had i been available to all of my kids in all of their body, heart, & spirit needs throughout the week? yes! had He both willed & worked out whatever truly needed to get done that week? yes! had He directed my steps through His word/words (both written & heart)? yes!

as all of this sunk in, i just began to praise Him. this sounds remarkable, but it’s true. at that very moment, then minutes left on the clock before my three hours were done, light shone through our second-story bedroom window—the western, setting, filtered light through the norway spruce, the one topped with snow & a cardinal couple. yes, the light shone, my migraine flew out the window, His life & light streamed into me, & i was healed. i had His vitality in me; i was whole, restored, & happy. and…as if that weren’t enough, i had inspiration, time, & energy during the weekend to sew (life-giving/personal) and organize the homestead room (practical/household) that weekend, finishing my to-do list!

the lesson here is : take the Word literally, & apply it to every circumstance with faith! the Bible is not a dead letter when approached with the Holy Spirit & faith. in this way, His Word & words will bring actual, literal life to your bones (& head!). meditate on psalm 119–highlight or underline the verses that jump out at you. write them down & apply them in faith to your circumstances this week.

one final thought…as i was preparing this, josh & i received the derek prince ministry newsletter in the mail. this is a ministry we support financially, having received so much solid teaching on deliverance, in particular, through his sermon archives.

“Jesus said in John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice…and they follow Me” (NASB). Without hearing His voice, we cannot follow Him. It is not enough to know the Scriptures. Derek often reminded us, “If you hold a Bible, all you have are black marks on white paper. Only the Holy Spirit can turn them into the voice of God. In any given situation, He brings to us the Word of God that we need and makes it a living voice.”

may you hear His beautiful voice & experience His tangible presence & grace as you apply His truth to your wonderful life. may He sustain you all week with His powerful word!