Many times when we hear the testimony of someone who God saved from some kind of horrible circumstance, such as drugs, drinking, or maybe even prostitution or human trafficking, we get jealous to a degree. We think to ourselves that God must love that person more, to give them such a great testimony. Well, one day at a church work day as we all sat down for a lunch break, we were talking, over chicken and dumplings and salad. Somehow this topic came up when someone was telling of a friend who had overcome some kind of monumental obstacle in their life. One of the ladies said that she had never been in any kind of bad situation like that and sometimes she wished that she had a testimony like that to tell others to help them come to know the Lord. That is when the pastor made this statement, " It takes as much love for God to keep us from something as it does to get us out of it." That hit home so hard for me, because I too had been a "Miss Goody Two Shoes" growing up. I had also been one of those who would get jealous that I didn't have a powerful story of how God brought me out of something really bad to let people know how good he is.
Then I started thinking of all the things that He had brought me through over the years. A few years ago, when I was beginning to have trouble with anxiety and panic attacks, I went to a couple of sessions with a counselor who asked me to go home and make a list of my potatoes. I looked at her strangely, and then she explained that you can only put so many potatoes into a sack before the sack is filled and starts to overflow. She said that this is the same way with our capacity to handle stressful situations in our life. So I went home and started remembering as far back into my childhood as I could remember to write down all the things that I thought were a stressful time, or a potato, in my life. As I began to write out the list, I began to realize that the way some people treated me was because of how they may have been treated.
Later in my life, I changed the name of the list from "My Sack of Potatoes" to "My Survival List". I began to see how many things God had brought me through, and given me a testimony of His greatness to keep us, and bring us through things by preforming miracles in our life that we may not even realize. God loves each of us so much that He not only gave His Son to die for us, but He continues to preform miracles in our lives each day.
So, if you have ever felt that you don't have a powerful testimony for God and His kingdom, I would challenge and encourage you to start writing down the things God had done for you in your life and fill your own “sack of potatoes.”
(Next week I will print my Potato Sack/Survival List, so that you too can see some of the things that God has brought me through, and is still helping me through every day.)
Instead of the phrase: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade “, your phrase could be: “When life gives you potatoes, make mashed potatoes “. I love mashed potatoes, especially when God is the one mashing the potatoes.