“Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things” (Isaiah 25:1).
My personal testimony from 2020:
Looking back over 2020, my one word.
Surrender…to God’s healing in my life, trusting His methods, doctors, medicine, physical therapy; and accepting things I couldn’t change…including COVID-19. I praise God for bringing peace to my heart and mind.
I started the year (February 2020) with extreme pain in my left shoulder. After visits to doctors and trying several medications, the pain continued to severely affect my sleep and daily routine. At the same time, my blood pressure began rising to stroke level. After consulting with my physicians, Jeff and our daughter Jennifer took me to the ER, where they admitted me and ran tests for two days.
Prior to my cardiac stress test, Jennifer asked the technician if she could pray for me before they started. I immediately felt peace and assurance that God was with me. After running all the tests, they said everything looked good, but they still couldn’t regulate my blood pressure. Finally, my cardiologist was able to stabilize my blood pressure with two new medications.
After being released from the hospital I saw an orthopedic doctor for my shoulder, which I couldn’t move without severe pain. He quickly diagnosed me with Adhesive Capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder) and ordered physical therapy. I was skeptical, but at this point would try anything. God knew exactly what He was doing!
After a few sessions with my physical therapist, Mike, I started to see some results. Mike not only treated me for frozen shoulder, but he also attended to my emotional and spiritual needs. He recited Scripture over me, prayed, and encouraged me. At the end of my treatment Mike said he felt that it was amazing that my recovery went so well, and then he told me about the One Word* book ministry.
After listening to his passion for God during my eight weeks of therapy, I decided to remember the One Word ministry. I also shared with Mike about our Family Legacy Day* and he said that he would like to start doing this with his wife and two daughters.
Almost a year later, I had kind of forgotten about the One Word ministry until just prior to the new year, January 2021. God kept impressing upon me the word “faithful.” Then I kept seeing the word faith and faithful show up in my daily devotions and Bible reading. I also re-read my prayer journal which testified to God’s faithfulness over the years (in my life and life of our family). So many answers to prayer over twenty years of journaling.
Faithful! Yes, God has always been faithful to me and to His Word and promises. I desire to be faithful to God because He’s been so faithful to me. Even when I’ve been unfaithful, God has showered me with His love, mercy, and grace.
As a child, God was faithful to care for me as an orphan (loss of both parents by age seven). God placed me in the home of my loving grandparents. Faithful to heal me from so many illnesses (two life-threatening) over all these years. Faithful to bring me into a personal relationship with Jesus as a young wife and mother, faithful to watch over our three children (protecting their lives, sparing them from serious illnesses and accidents, etc.) And faithful to bless me with six wonderful grandchildren.
I’d like to clarify that God does not always show His faithfulness to me by answering my prayers in the exact way or timing that I’d like. Yes, God does choose to intervene in this way at times and I’m forever grateful. There are other times, however, when through His divine sovereignty, God chooses not to remove or exclude hardships from my life. Instead, He has used these difficult times in my life to help me learn to trust in Him and strengthen my faith. I’ve come to relish and recognize God’s faithfulness through His loving and caring hand of comfort, inner peace, and unconditional love in the midst of suffering and pain. His ways are greater and higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8-9), and I am thankful God knows what’s best for me.
This Year: Faithful – My One Word
Scripture: Psalm 145
My One Verse: Psalm 145:13
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.”
God is teaching me the importance of living a life of faithfulness to Him and His Word. So, I’m excited about spending this year meditating, contemplating, and living out the word “faithful.” 1). God’s Faithfulness And 2). God equipping me to be faithful to Him.
- To learn more about the My One Word ministry, you can go to:http://myoneword.org/
- The My One Word book is available through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/My-One-Word-Change-Your/dp/0310318777
- Family Legacy Day – One day set aside to share personal salvation stories from one generation to the next. See the tab Family Legacy Day on Covenant Heirs blog site. https://covenantheirs.org/
This blog site, Holding His Hand, is dedicated to my mother, Audrey, who learned to trust in Jesus as her personal Savior during her battle with cancer.
On occasion, God will direct my attention to others who have personal testimonies of God’s faithfulness in their lives. And from time to time I will post their stories on this blog site. Please watch for upcoming testimonies.
Upcoming Testimony
Natalie Johnson, a worship pastor’s wife, and mother of two precious daughters will share how God’s faithfulness walked her through the most dark and painful days in her life. God’s hand of grace has lovingly held Natalie close throughout her life. Her story will move you from tears to joy as she bravely and openly details living through childhood cancer, the divorce of her parents, and an infertility journey that included miscarriage, surrogacy with a close friend, and foster care. If you’ve ever been sorely broken in life, you won’t want to miss reading Natalie’s testimony of God’s amazing faithfulness. It will encourage you to seek God during heartache and suffering because God’s promises are true. He promises to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6), give us His strength when we are weak (Isaiah 41:10), and He promises to carry our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30).
