Testimony

Im going through a devotional book called "They Were Women, Too" by Joy Jacobs.  Is was a completely random pick from the library but it intrigued me.  Every week focuses on a woman from the Bible, and what I like about it is that it features many women who are given little attention in Scripture.  Did you know there were two Noah's, and one of them was a woman? Who has ever done a study of Zipporah or the daughters of Zelophehad? And what could I possibly glean from the life of Tamar?

I can relate to each of these women in some way.  For better and for worse.  I can be unlovable like Leah.  Manipulative like Rebekah.   Discontent like Potipher's wife.  Completely miss the bigger picture like Martha. I was feeling particularly impatient (like Sarah?) as I was putting Ellis to sleep the other night and started to wonder what Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have done.  She wasn't a perfect woman, nor a perfect mother.  Did she panic the moment she realized she was going to give birth in a barn?   How long did the ponderings in her heart go on before the daily grind of motherhood sank in?  Did she feel the extra pressure of knowing that she was mom to the Son of God?  And did she sleep train??

One of my favorite songs right now has a line that goes, "We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony."  I've been thinking about that a lot lately, this idea of testimonies.  I can't put myself into all of these womens' shoes, and I don't think we should always try to do that when we study the Bible. So in these women's stories I am looking for the word of their testimony, and what God did in and through them. How Hannah's faithful mothering raised up Samuel. How Jesus honored the radical generosity of the nameless woman who gave up her last two mites, and now her story echoes for eternity.  The fearlessness of the midwives Shiprah and Puah saved an entire generation of Hebrew boys.  And the unshakable faith of Jochebed, who hid her baby boy and sent him down the river in a basket. Can you imagine?  There are so many remarkable stories in the Bible if you stop to think of the truth in them!

We only get tiny glimpses into a fraction of their lives, but the bits and pieces of their testimonies encourage me and spur me on to be a better mom, wife, friend, etc.  And it begs the question, what will my testimony be?