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A Personal Testimony Of God's Grace

 

Have you ever tried to explain the Christian life to someone? What do they mean when someone says, "God spoke to me"? Is life with Jesus one string of wonderful days, one after another? I recently had an experience that I thought was simple and straightforward enough to communicate one sliver of an example of God's truly being "with us" (Emmanuel).

Recently, I was anticipating a major dental appointment that was going to be more nerve-wracking for me than usual. Thankfully, it was after Christmas, but that didn't mean I wasn't starting to remember other negative dental experiences. I started praying and another friend of mine said she would pray also. The first idea I had was to ask someone at the dental office to explain the procedure in detail so I could know what to expect. They also provide nitrous oxide during procedures, if requested. I said that would be helpful.

The day before the procedure, I had a "random" thought: Why am I having all these negative feelings and fears about something that is going to give me such pleasure when it's all over? I'm going to get my smile back in a way unknown to me since childhood. I made a mental note of that attitude shift, and those two steps enabled me to walk into the office for my appointment in a calm and good mood.

But the best part of all...the moment the dentist began working on me, the music over the loudspeaker was Amazing Grace...and my dentist started humming along! If I could have, I would have broken into a big smile!

I translated that moment into the thought that Jesus was saying, "I'm here. I'm with you!" Whenever I have any dental work done, I close my eyes during the entire time to shut out what is going on and I turn inward. For the rest of my appointment I felt at peace and could feel my muscles progressively relax throughout my body.

This is how I believe God sometimes reveals Himself to us in our 24/7 lives. One of the most frequent promises in the Bible that God gives us is, "Fear not, I am with you." I believe God often "shows up" as we live our lives, if we are attentive to the subtle, little things. It is all to bring Him glory and draw us closer to Him as we go through each day.