Baa Baa Black sheep

My testimony, in so many ways is very uninspiring. It doesn't have a lot of sparkle, or drama. There is no big showdown between darkness and light. It's just the story of a girl, who grew up with amazing Godly parents, married a boy, and grew to make her faith her own.

Sometimes, (and now this is a real 'churchy' thing here) we get the visiting preachers, with their amazing testomonies about how they were drug dealers, and alchoholics, and porn stars and criminals. How they were the lowest of the low, and God raised them to amazing heights. Those stories, those testimonies, they are astounding. I love them. I never cease to wonder at how miraculous my God can be.

But they leave me walking away, comparing myself and my own life, and feeling very, very insignificant and boring.

However, in God's eyes, the faithful man who grew up in a church, loves God with all his heart, attends church every Sunday, who prays devoutly, and does whatever he can... is of no less value than the amazing preacher who started off as a crack baby. 

The parable of the lost sheep is a powerful one. For so long, I've read it wrong. Here it is:

 Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

 Luke 15: 4-7

I've often put myself in the 'ninety-nine person's who do not need to repent' category. But that's ridiculous. I need to repent. Of course I do. I'm not righteous. We are all lost sheep. We are all valuable.

My testimony may not illustrate the amazing power of God's goodness over evil. But maybe it's not supposed to. Maybe my testimony is supposed to demonstrate God's unfailing, unwavering love. Maybe it's supposed to show the need for Godly parents who pray. The importance of a Mother who surrenders her child to God. While it's true (so far) much of my life may not have seen fantastic peaks or low deep valleys, it has had it's moments. And maybe it's a testament to the many terrifying depths He saved me from. The ones I don't even know about.

Every testimony, is powerful. No matter what we do, or don't do, no matter what we've done or haven't done. The only thing that really matters, is making the decision to love, and follow Him. We are all a lost sheep at one point or another. He will always care about us, and come for us. No matter whether we have wandered for a very long time, and gotten very dirty and damaged, or whether we only wandered a very small way.  The shepherd will always do his best to seek his lost sheep, because they are of value to him.