Books Jesus Read

Resources for Application

205

present day. 3 Then, share them with one another. Your stories may not become as widely popular as C. S. Lewis’ Surprised by Joy or Augustine’s Confessions , but they are nonetheless just as important. Tell others how you have seen God working in their lives, and ask them to do the same for you. Your eyes may be opened to aspects of your testimony you had not previously recognized. One helpful way to begin writing your testimony is by constructing a timeline. First, mark major life events such as births, deaths, moves, marriages, divorces, graduations, new jobs, and so on. Next, indicate points in your life where you experienced God working, such as repentance, healings, miracles, renewed faith, provision, and so on. Lastly, mark points where you responded to God’s working, such as professing your faith, baptism, answering a call to ministry or service, and so on. This process should provide you with a helpful outline for writing out specific ways God has worked in your life. Your testimony can be whatever you make it to be. It could include various lessons you have learned about yourself and about God. It could include very positive “spiritual high” moments, or very negative “dark nights of the soul.” It could include questions you are still working through in your life. Whatever you choose to focus on in your testimony, the key is for you to spend time reflecting on how God has worked in your life and how you have responded. Whether you conduct your reflection through a twenty-four-hour solitude retreat, a series of journaling sessions, conversations with your friends, or other methods, taking time to reflect on how

3 D. Bruce Hindmarsh, The Evangelical Conversion Narrative: Spiritual Autobiography in Early Modern England (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).