“But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.” Luke 21:13

Calling Back

Walk His Way Revisited

When I was a kid, sometimes we would go to a lake where a large, overhanging tree had a rope attached to it. We could grab that rope, swing waaaaay out over the water and, if we were brave enough, let go of the rope, making as big a splash as possible so as to impress the bystanders. Let it be known, I was never brave enough to let go. In fact, I was never brave enough to take the rope in the first place. But somehow, I was brave enough to dare others to do so!

Once in the water, the person would always call back to us standing under the tree.
“Come on, you can do it!”
 “If I can do it, you can do it!”

This is what we writers of these daily devotionals are doing. We are calling back to you to tell you that you can do it. We’ve been where you are now. We’ve walked some portion of your walk. We’ve weathered your storms, endured your trials, and felt your pain. We’ve raised kids that refused the Lord. We’ve endured chemotherapy. We’ve known incalculable loss and grief. We’ve been rejected by someone beloved. We have faced fear and agony of spirit in varying magnitudes. We have climbed the same mountains, crossed the same rivers, endured the same shipwrecks. We’ve moved to new lands and taken on new callings and ministries, having no idea of what was to come.

We are calling back to you.
“Come on, you can do it!”
 “If I can do it, you can do it!”

We aren’t merely expressing our confidence in you. In fact, to do so would be a fallacy, a lie. Our confidence is not in the flesh—not ours, and not yours. Our confidence is in our faithful Lord, our Strength, our Redeemer, our Helper. But in calling back to you—in allowing the things that have happened to us be for a testimony to you, as in today’s Scripture—we implore you to never give up your faith in God. You can continue on—with His help. 

The word “testimony” means proof, evidence, and a proclamation of personal experience. All of us have personal experience with a walk with the Lord. We all can “call back” to others, encouraging them to be faithful, to be strong and of good courage, to trust in the Lord with all their heart.

What life experiences do you have that you can call back to others? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Lord, we know You will redeem every experience of our lives. Show us where we can call back encouragement and comfort to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.