The Power of Testimony
As I was reading in Mark recently, I was struck by one verse: Mark 5:27(ESV).
She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
In this passage, Mark writes about a woman who had been sick with a specific issue for 12 years. In that time, she had spent all that she had in order to try to remedy the issue. She sought the help of multiple physicians, yet grew worse rather than better. This woman was at her last straw. She most likely was hopeless, believing she’d live with this condition for the rest of her life. Yet the Word states so simply “she heard the reports about Jesus.” Those reports are what we call testimonies. A testimony is an assertion offering firsthand authentication of a fact, or a first-hand report. It doesn’t say that she heard the (singular) report, or a couple reports, but she heard the reports about Jesus. This implies many. And it brings up a significant factor. People were telling their friends and family of their first-hand encounters with Jesus, the Christ. People who had encountered Jesus were changed. Some were healed, others were relieved of oppression, still others were called to follow him. These people knew they had encountered someone special because their lives were transformed, and they shared this good news of Jesus with everyone they knew. Those are the reports she had been hearing. And it was by the hearing of those reports that she was given a glimmer of hope. For this woman, broken in her body – she thought that just maybe if Jesus could do that for them, he can heal me of my sickness. You see, the reports that she had heard bore witness in her heart. Despite her circumstance, despite the fact that she’d been plagued with this illness for 12 years, despite all of her doctor visits and worsening of her symptoms…she had hope because of the reports. And the Word says she came up behind him and touched his garment, and was healed of her sickness.
I think we Christians in America don’t understand the importance and even necessity of testimonies. If you are a Christian walking with God, you are bound to have numerous testimonies of God’s hand at work in your life. I know I do, too many to count. And here’s my question:
What would the world look like if every Christian testified continually of God’s hand in their life? What would our world look like? What would our church look like?
As Christians, we know the creator. We have a relationship with Almighty God. We have received hope for our lives, healing of our brokenness and restoration to God the Father. The very message of the gospel is hope to the hurting, healing to the broken and restoration to God the Father. My point is this: EVERY testimony is indispensable . For one report may not convince the woman she has worth in the eyes of God, two reports may not convice the addict he can be free from his addiction…but where multiple testimonies are heard, the hopeless will seek Hope in God, the broken will seek healing in God, and the lost will be restored to God who is Love. Testimonies are great in church, but they’re necessary and effective outside the walls of the church, for that is where the hopeless and broken live. Let’s seek opportunities to share testimonies of God’s hand in our lives. Let’s not be silent, but speak freely of God’s goodness in our lives!
