“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” Isaiah 43:10
What is that that convinces me that God is God and there is no other God but Him? Will someone else’s testimony do it? Perhaps temporarily. Will exhaustive study of the scriptures do it? Not really, though study of the Word will be the doorway to my faith.
The truth is ~ I must experience that ‘God is God and there is no other’ in my own life. I can’t coast on secondhand faith, on the stories of my father and mother, on the narratives of past heroes of the faith. God has to be larger than life to me! How does that happen? Only as I have need of Him. Only as other gods leave me empty. Only when stakes are high and impossible odds are staring me in the face will I look for God to move personal mountains. When He does, the passion of my own testimony is born.
A long life spent with Jesus has birthed many God-stories. If you’ve gotten these devotionals over the course of years, you know some of them. The more times He saved me, the more I was convinced of whom I believed. The greater the deliverance, the more my faith grew. And it’s a good thing. The faith tests just get steeper and steeper the older I get. What I trusted God for at 40 does not resemble what I have to trust God for today. The way home to glory is an upward climb.
The stunning thing about this scripture is that God chose me to be a witness to His power and glory. Because I was hand-picked (as you were if you’re reading this), my personal story is being crafted to bring about great need. There is mystery in all of this. With every need, I might assume that there is a heavenly fix. I can easily look to God to instantly repair everything that breaks. Sometimes He does. Sometimes, He defers the answer until glory. What do I get in its place? HIM! Love, compassion, and grace. And in this broken world, perhaps the latter is the strength of my witness. I need God more than I need His power to fix the messes of my life. The real dilemma always is this ~ when God withholds the breakthrough but gives me more of Himself, do I see Him as the greater gift?
Yes. Amen
christinewyrtzen.com 
Thank you, Christine ~ I so very much needed to read and be reminded of these truths today (6/8/20). My heart is also aching and I’m waiting for a huge answer to prayer. And, like you, at least when you wrote this, it has not come so far and looks impossible. And if it doesn’t come, it will mean much more loss for me and our family as well. Yet, as you, I sense Him in the waiting. I trust Him. My verse this year has been, “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!” If He lays it on your heart, would you pray for my kids and me, particularly two unmarried daughters and myself. We are losing our home and ministry base and have no idea where or how we will get another. It is a long, frustrating story. Navigating it all without Rick’s tender leadership adds to the pain. Yet these past 14 years, since Rick moved to Heaven, God has shown Himself to be my Husband over and over, and I know He is holding us. May He continue to assure you of that very same holding. Thank you for the ways you challenge all of us! ~ Margaret
Oh Margaret, I am just not seeing this for the first time. I am so very sorry for what you are living. I’m sure your two daughters are looking to you for security and care and you don’t have Rick as an umbrella over you. I am stopping right now to pray for you, for God to reveal Himself powerfully today, in some surprising way, as your Provider. Some promise, some provision, some confirmation. Please update me as God moves and new ways I can pray, ok? Praying from Athens.