Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. (2 Tim. 3:11)
I scrolled through Facebook, wrinkle-cream advertisements filling my feed. I started to put my phone down when I saw a post from a college friend—a picture of two ultrasounds hung side by side on a refrigerator. One was a pregnancy announcement. The other came tagged with the words husband and cancer. I breathed in sharply. While no stranger to grief, I couldn’t help but marvel at my friend’s faith. “How is she surviving this?” I wondered, and then I worried, “If it were me, would my faith would fall short?”
I was flooded with feelings of inadequacy, until I began to remember God’s redemptive story in my own life, moments when I had leaned into him and discovered his abundance. The refrigerator photo—the bitter and sweet side by side—reminded me: No matter what happens in life, God is bigger. He is enough. With him, we can lose everything, but still have everything. Paul, too, echoed this mystery to young Timothy.
Sometimes our faith anecdotes seem mundane in comparison to the trials others face, so we keep quiet. But no faith story is less redemptive. Less powerful. When we talk about our struggles and how God “rescued [us] from them all,” we continue God’s story, his gospel; so share your story. Let God use you to tell his tale. You never know who needs to hear it.
Let God use your story, both bitter and sweet.
Sarah E. Westfall resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her husband Ben and their four boys. Her elusive free time is spent reading, home remodeling, and writing.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
