“Let no one despise your youth but be an example to believers in faith, in speech, in conduct, in love and in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12
Anyone who has been a part of our Black Girls with Purpose community knows I’m very candid when it comes to being a member of the faith. It is far from easy. Especially in the wake of pandemics such as COVID19. You’re often persecuted. If not externally, internally.
On one end, you may have friends or family constantly reminding you of who you used to be. Suggesting, without outwardly saying it, that you are in no position to judge, to share the gospel, to preach because your past disqualifies you from that end. But it’s these same family members and friends that need to be introduced to the power of God’s redemption.
Recently, I encountered a fellow podcaster and I could tell by certain words and phrases he used that he was not a believer in Jesus Christ which was fine with me. Not that I didn’t want to see him in heaven but I saw it as an opportunity. Because I’ve learned over the years that God is not this trivial person, He is an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful Force to be reckoned with and the best way for people to believe is for them to experience Him.
The way I see it, if you’ve spent your whole life in disbelief about Jesus Christ, you have nothing to lose. If you ask Him to show you He’s real and He doesn’t you’re in the same boat you were in previously. In that same vein, if you’re serious about seeing if He’s real and you ask Him to show up in your life, not only do I believe, but I have seen, that He will do the miraculous so the two of you can be in fellowship.
If you don’t face outward persecution, you may be battling internally thinking to yourself, how and why would God use me? If you’ve ever thought that I encourage you to really spending time meditating on what the Bible is – a collection of people of all ages sharing their testimonies and experiences as a testament to God’s goodness.
The gospels (literally translated Good News) of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John share four men’s stories of their experience with the king of kings and because of their willingness and obedience to write what the Holy Spirit led them to write, we get to experience Jesus Christ personally. John says in his account “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing in Him you will have life in his name.” (John 20:31)
In my book The Black Girl’s Guide to Living on Purpose, I share how it can be tempting to feel like the work you do for the Lord is not as significant if you’re not working from behind a pulpit. But you have to understand, God is strategic and knows you can reach people pastors may not be able to reach. Check out this Biblical account from Mark 5:1-20 if you don’t believe me.
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. 3 He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him anymore—even with chains— 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me,[b] Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg[c] You before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For He had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 “What is your name?” He asked him.
“My name is Legion,”[d] he answered Him, “because we are many.” 10 And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region.
11 Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons[e] begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” 13 And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them[f] ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg Him to leave their region.
18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. 19 But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
This is what our lives should be, first-hand accounts of God’s miracle-working power in our lives and examples of His glory. Whenever people ask me “why do you believe?” It’s an easy question for me, because I know who I was before Christ and I’ve witnessed the changes He has made in my life. I know that I’m not the same. That God has called those old things out of me in the same way He freed the man in this story from His demons. I’m not afraid to be alone anymore and I also don’t fear death. I get to live each day focused on Jesus.
Before Christ I was self-centered, insecure, I was angry easily. I battled with depression, suicidal thoughts and bit my nails down to the nubs as a result of anxiety. I was timid, quiet, often overlooked which was fine with me because I didn’t think I possessed anything valuable anyway.
Since coming to know Christ, the self-centeredness in my life dies off more and more each day. In Him I have confidence. I’m quick to listen and slow to speak, especially when it comes to my relationship with my husband. I have not battled with depression in years, my nails look like this
and my timidity has been replaced little by little with boldness.
When God first called me to ministry, apparently I told one of my sisters in Christ, “I write, I don’t speak.” I had no idea then what God would use my life to accomplish. I had no vision for podcasts or Bible studies. All I did was give God my yes and that’s all He needed.
I know it’s tempting to discount or discredit ourselves because we feel like we are insufficient to encourage people in their time of need but scripture promises God will teach us what to say (Luke 12:12). We don’t have to overthink it, we just have to move forward in faith.
People need your voice. They need to see what it looks like and sounds like to witness God’s glory.
Share below. What has God done through you lately?
Want to check out more examples of God doing miracles in the lives of ordinary people to bring them into faith or choosing people who felt insignificant. These are great starting places:
- Moses (the shepherd)
- Gideon (the weak)
- Jeremiah (the youth)
- Shadrach, Meschach, Abednego
- Daniel
- The woman at the Well