There was a time when that might have bothered me. Am I missing His direction in my life? Am I not hearing His voice? But, I have learned to be comfortable in who I am and to speak from what I know. I know about growing up insecure and misunderstood--and God's healing from that; I know about bringing up a family in a third-world culture; I know about linguistics; I know about the hope that the translated Bible can give to a Buddhist group that has no word for hope in their language; I know about spiritual oppression and attack from evil spirits; I know about failure and forgiveness in parenting; I know about the challenges of being a single mom through my daughter; I know a little about being married to a person with mental illness and the resulting abuse through the life of that same daughter. I know about transitions. But mostly I know about a good God, a gracious God, a faithful God, and most of all, a LOVING God. I know about the power of prayer and how God answers out of His goodness. I know about spiritual awakening and being thankful. I know about TRUTH. And that's what God asks me to write about.
There is so much pain and sadness and ingratitude in this world. My prayer is that I speak into that through what I know and what I've experienced--to testify to God's love with a heart of thankfulness and a message of hope.
Keith Green said, "I've never tried to be controversial. The truth is controversial enough." He was right. When we speak the truth of Jesus our words can offend because His Name is offensive to the world. Even speaking the truth in love can be controversial. If I share what I know about Truth and that results in controversy well, then, bring it on!
Some of you may know of Keith Green, others may not. I want to close with the title song of his album, "No Compromise." I used to listen to this album a lot as a teenager and young adult. It has always challenged me to speak truth. I hope it will be an encouragement to you today.
