Carol McClain

How to Ensure Your Testimony True

Carol McClain     @carol_mcclain

Recently, a woman in our congregation faced a possible amputation. Questions arose between doctors about whether she needed such extreme measures. When family, ready for amputation, discovered she didn’t need one, she exploded with the news, “Praise, God, I’m healed.”

A month later, the infection roared into life and debilitated her for months. Bariatric pressure, antibiotics and many specialists finally saved her foot.

Another woman I knew testified the healing of her morning sickness. For five days she battled it and prayed. One day, it had to be near the end of the first trimester, it went away. “Praise, God. It’s a miracle.”

No. This was the normal end of the usual nausea found in morning sickness.

Too many people profess a miracle when none exists. We’re eager to have God move supernaturally, but by definition, miracles are rare. Premature testimonies only weaken your witness.

Verify your miracle.

In Matthew 8, we read about a leper. He comes to Jesus for healing. The Lord reaches out and touches him. Instantly, the disease which debilitated and ostracized him for years vanished.

What does Christ say? “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them,” Matthew 8:4. (emphasis mine).

If it were me on the receiving end, I’d be screaming to the multitudes, “Look at this gorgeous skin. I don’t need no dermabrasion or Retinol! I’m splendiferous!”

Why not testify?

Jesus would prove this act was no quirk, no sleight of hand, no quick fix. He told the man to go to the priest (for us, the doctor). Have the expert verify. Once the ex-leper took this step, he needed to thank God properly. By the time the cleansed man finished the process, the miracle would be evident on its own. People would have to notice he now took part in worship services. He returned home to family and friends. His skin looked like a newborn’s.

How to ensure your testimony is true:

1. Verify the problem is true. In both my examples above, the women didn’t have the issue they believed they had. They assumed the worst. When nature took its course, they eagerly testified to their special status as a receiver of a miracle.
2. Verify the miracle is true. The woman facing an amputation didn’t need it. She resumed her own life, living as she always did, then faced reality. It wasn’t a miracle. It was a questionable diagnosis. From the start, the two doctors disagreed on the procedure she needed.

Do you have a cold? Have you prayed? Did it heal? Don’t testify to a healing that normal white blood cells take care of. Our bodies and lives, in themselves, are miraculous, but most of our lives are lived in the realm of the normal.

Testifying prematurely doesn’t edity faith. It destroys faith.