In Part I of this series, I believe that we are being asked the Right Question, “How does your belief in Jesus Christ make a difference in your life?”  However, I suggested that more times than not our answers to this question fall short of revealing the Glory of God because they inadvertently veil God’s handiwork by discussing spiritual disciplines and works.  We end up focusing on what we do for God rather than what God is doing in us and for us.

People desire to see how God is at work in their world.

When we focus on the doing for God those who are inquiring miss out on seeing how God is at work in and through us.  When discussed in a manner such as this it seem obvious.  Nevertheless, the vast majority of people I have encountered struggle to share their faith in a meaningful way that engages others.  So how do we respond to this right question in a better way?

Give them the story of how God is at work in your life.  That directive presupposes that God is indeed at work in your life.  The question is do you see Him at work and are your working with Him.  We are as Christian to be continually transformed into the character of Christ.  Yet, for many we are not in touch with that journey.  We are merely in touch with the journey of the “do.”  We believe, therefore we “do” a lot of things to grow in our faith.  That journey we know how to talk about.  It is real.  It is tangible.  The other side of it; the side that reveals the actual growth we have experienced is often lacking.  That is, once we have been journeying for a time.

Those who have crazy testimonies of coming to faith are often held in high regard because they can highlight the growth journey.  They were a drunk, a junky, a cheat, a liar, a thief, an adulterer, a murderer, a hell bent whatever.  Then they came to faith and wham they have a huge story of growth and life transformation.  We look at these stories and then look at our own and say things like, “I don’t have a good testimony,” or, “my story is lame,” or, “I should sin some more in order to have a better story.”  Seriously!?  That is a very common thought process within the body of Christ; a way of thinking that in and of itself diminishes the Glory of God and elevates ones self-righteousness.

When we think this way (and I am guilty of it myself) we are essentially saying, “I am not that bad of a sinner,” or, “God hasn’t done anything significant in my life.”  Both of these conclusions are not good.  For one, we have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.  We say this when we witness to demonstrate we are all in the same boat.  However, when looking at personal testimonies and stories we tend to forget this truth, compare others sins against our own, and then discredit our own stories because they are not gritty enough.

What a load of garbage!  People do want to hear the incredible life transformation stories of hell bent to heaven bound.  They are exciting and engaging.  But people also want to hear, and I am becoming convinced that they desire this more and more, the simple stories of how God is at work in their lives day in and day out over the long haul.  The wow moments are great but what about today?  People are hungry for stories like,

“I was about to loose it after a long day of work and the kids were going crazy in the house but the verse, “love is patient,” rolled through my head and a calm rushed over me.  What was the source of my frustration became the source of my joy and I joined in with my kids.  I came to find out they were celebrating my youngest ones first tooth falling out.  Had I acted on my frustration and anger I would have destroyed an incredible moment.  I have done a lot of damage because of my short fuse in the past.  God’s word is making a huge difference in my life.”

“I was on my way to meeting the other day in a city I had never been in.  My GPS was acting up and I wound up lost, in the city, with only 10 minutes until I was to be leading my segment.  I was on the verge of a breakdown when I felt like the Spirit was saying, ‘Follow the car in front of you.’  My mind told me I’m crazy and that I should just call my husband for directions over the phone.  He could look it up online and guide me in.  But for whatever reason, I chose to listen to this small voice.  It went a block and then turned right, then two more blocks and turned left.  And low and behold I look to my right and there is the hotel I had been trying to find.  Crazy I know.  Some may call it chance but I believe it was more than chance.  I believe the Lord helped guide me to that meeting.”

“I had a friend come to me with a concern about a job situation and we prayed specifically that the boss he was needing to talk with would see that his intentions were good and that he would be given the go ahead on a particular project.  I received a phone call from my friend later that day telling me about how crazy it was that his boss gave him the go ahead and that he actually said that exact statement in their conversation, ‘I know your intentions are good.’  That baffles my mind when our prayers are answered so concretely.”

“I used to wake up not wanting to face the world.  I would struggle to pull myself together and push off from my apartment oasis to engage strangers, co-workers, friends, family, anyone.  I was just exhausted from life.  But over the past three months, God has slowly been changing that.  He has been showing me that I have been thinking I have to help all these people with their problems.  Couple that with the feeling that I can’t even help myself and I’ve been overwhelmed.  He’s showing me I don’t have to fix people, I can’t.  I just need to love them.  Getting out of bed isn’t so challenging anymore.  I actually look forward to loving on people during my day.  I’m not saying I’m perfect in this.  I’m a work in progress but it is sure freeing.”

Nothing terribly incredible here.  Just simple stories of how God is at work in their lives.  This is what people are hungry for.  This is what people want to see.

People want to see how Jesus is alive and active in the world today.

I say let em have Him.  Don’t hold back.  Take the time to think through how you are experiencing Him today, this week, this month, this year.  Write it down if it will help you remember and better articulate it.  Make it a daily practice to describe how God is at work in your life, how your faith is making a difference.  Do the work of thinking through before hand so that when opportunity arises you are prepared…

…or when the right question is asked, you have a better response.