Have you ever been inspired by someone else’s story? Whether the story belonged to a historical person or someone you know, personally, their story encouraged you to continue on your journey when it became very difficult. Have you ever been inspired by the phrase “if he can do it, I can do it”? Any work you commit to completing will have some rough patches and difficult days, but it will be the testimony of the goodness of God and the power of His might that’s going to get you through. If the person whose story has inspired you was never told, what evidence would you have to remain encouraged? Revelation 12:11 says “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
When you have a testimony that bears witness to the power of Jesus Christ, you MUST tell it because your testimony can be the very evidence another person needs to overcome the enemy’s attack.
Back in the mid to late 50s, my mother was one of six African-Americans to enroll in a predominantly white university in Louisiana after the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. During the two years she was there, she encountered racist acts like many others who attended similar institutions throughout the south. For example, 50% of her course grade was based on class participation, and yet the professor would never call on her when she raised her hand and she was not allowed to speak without being called upon. So, she had to make a grade of "A" on all of her tests and quizzes just to get a grade of "C" out of the class. There were many other acts of injustice such as name calling, and denial of access to the library and cafeteria—to name a few. The final straw was that she couldn’t complete her student teaching because she wasn’t allowed to teach in the white K-12 schools and if she chose to teach in the African-American schools, her work wouldn’t count toward her grade. As a result, she transferred to an HBCU. Although she didn’t experience racism in her new university, she shared stories of her experiences with sexism.
My mother shared her experiences on several occasions as we were growing up for two reasons that I’ve kept as the impetus for my perseverance. First, she wanted us to appreciate the opportunities to pursue an education because of what she and others before her had endured as the pioneers and trailblazers of justice in education. Second, she didn’t want us to think that external challenges and difficulties were more powerful than the internal power we had in us which is Jesus Christ. Interestingly, every time she told us about one of her experiences, she always made it a point to give God glory for keeping her safe and in a few cases, saving her life. In essence, she gave us a testimony of evidence of what God can do through us and with us as we go through life and accomplish our God-designed dreams. (Note: Three decades later, two of her five daughters—me and one of my sisters—graduated from that university.)
In Revelation 12:11, the people overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and the word of their testimony. Their testimony was their undying faith and open declaration of Jesus Christ and His saving power. In the Greek translation, “testimony” as used here in this passage, is Marturia which is prounced “Mar-too-reeʹ-ah” and means evidence given, record, report, testimony, and witness. Interestingly, this word derives from the Greek word Martus—pronounced “Marʹ-toos” meaning martyr. Why is this important? Because the latter part of this scriptures says, “and they loved not their lives unto death.” This means that our lives must be a witness for Jesus Christ and serve as a testimony of evidence regardless of what we may have to endure, including death as with Stephen in Acts 7:59 or the Chinese Christians of today.
From a spiritual perspective, our martyrdom means that we must commit to dying daily to the things of this world as spoken by Paul in I Corinthians 15:31, and live in Christ. When you are dead to the world, its priorities and areas of focus will have no affect on you. You’re untouched or unfazed by what the world deems important when it conflicts with the Word of God. For example, I once heard a Bishop say, although America went through a recession, I chose not to participate because there was no recession in heaven and my focus was on things above and not of this world.
When we choose Christ and grow day-by-day in His ways through God’s word, we will experience persecution and unfair attacks because our lives will conflict with worldly values. Whatever we encounter, we can endure and overcome because of the work of Christ on the cross and the testimonies of His power. Remember, the war between God and evil is over. Christ won! Actually, it was never a real contest because the opposing side was never equal. So, tell somebody about what God has done for you and encourage them in the Lord.
Challenge: Don’t let the cares of this world or the enemy’s whispers take root in your thoughts and heart. Guard them for God and godliness. Tell everyone, anyone what God has done for you through His son Jesus Christ and bear witness to the Light of Truth.