What’s Better Than a Hallelujah?

Last night I chatted online with an old friend for over an hour before she said, So I see you done found Jesus. I chuckled and said, Actually, he found me. We LOL’d about it and moved on to other things before hanging up.  What I realized after talking to her is that I didn’t disclose a lot about my life back then. I kept my work life and private life separate for the most part. Those who were closest to me knew about my growing relationship with the Lord, and I privately ministered to them when they needed it, but other than that, I didn’t want to share my walk with anyone, and I definitely didn’t want to share my struggles.

Some of that was derived from fear. I thought other Christians might judge me for not being able to quote scripture.  I still can’t do that. Sure, I know a few memory verses, but I can’t quote chapter and verse.  I think it has something to do with numbers and words. As you might imagine, I love words. Numbers are a different story. I studied hard and made good grades in Math in high school, but I’m also that chic who failed Elementary Statistics the first time I took it in college. Isn’t that ironic?

Another reason that some who were not in my inner circle didn’t know about my walk with the Lord is because I didn’t want to offend anyone by talking about the goodness of God. As you can tell, I no longer have that problem. I don’t want to preach, but I aspire to inspire and to encourage others. My life hasn’t been easy –a product of generational poverty and battling a chronic illness all my life has made for some powerful testimonies. There have been days when I couldn’t find the words to pray to God, but I now know that the holy spirit interceded for me. I remember waking up to excruciating pain in my abdomen while lying in my bunk in basic training one morning, and begging God to take that pain away before reveille. The pain subsided enough to do what I needed to do, but it was still there as a reminder — a reminder of my cross.

NOTE – All this week I will highlight a different contemporary Christian artist, and I invite you to do the same in the comments. Amy Grant has been around for a long time, and her music has stood the test of time. Take care, and God bless.