"Don't leave home without it!"
“Don’t leave home without it.”
If you’re a child of the 70’s, the first thought that comes to mind is Karl Malden and the American Express card. If you’re a child of the 90’s, your first thought may be your debit card. There are few things as frustrating as ending up at the cash register with nothing to offer. Your testimony is like your debit card.
The dictionary says, “Currency is something in circulation as a medium of exchange.” Likewise our story, our experiences are a type of currency. As we circulate through our daily routines, we have the opportunity- perhaps even the responsibility to make an exchange.
You can only spend what you have. When I was in Colombia I was asked to preach a 40-minute sermon with only a couple of minutes notice. While I couldn’t whip up 3 clever, alliterative points, God had been speaking to me for a couple of months on the story of Peter walking on the water. I spoke out of that story. I shared my struggles. I shared my challenges and challenged them too. How grateful I was when I stood before hungry people I had been seeking God’s voice!
Is there someone in your path who is waiting for you to exchange the currency of your authentic faith journey? How are you keeping your faith “in the black?” Are you making regular deposits of reading the Word? Worship? Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to deposit wisdom, encouragement and conviction?
Overdraft protection is available. If by error or bad timing you find yourself in a deficit, all is not lost. Some banking institutions will cover you. Likewise you have the ability to dip into the savings account of faith deposited by the saints. If your account is low, borrow from the truth of the stories in Scripture. God is working in His people consistently and eternally. Be encouraged and challenged by how He has worked in others but rest confident that He desires to use your story to grow you and bless others.
My husband, Michael and I were recently having dinner with friends; Dan and Karen. Dan had also just returned from a mission trip and had been asked to preach once he arrived. Fortunately for Dan, he had been told ahead of time, “Never leave the country without a sermon.” Of course I responded with the obligatory, “INFORMATION THAT WOULD’VE BEEN HELPFUL YESTERDAY!” But now I know. Now I know that wherever I go there may be someone waiting for me to exchange the currency of my faith, my knowledge, my hope or joy. So let me encourage you as I encourage myself, with more than a checkout line embarrassment at risk, when it comes to your current, honest, unfolding faith story, don’t leave home without it.