A testimony is a public account of something, whether a statement in court of something witnessed or the more casual conversation recounting one’s experience of God. It is our way of telling others what God has done for us and as such, will always be personal and fresh.
Jeremiah was a prophet living in difficult times, immediately before and during Israel’s exile from their home land because of their rebellion against God. He had difficult words to speak but was faithful in passing on God’s word to the people. In Jeremiah 16:14-15, we read, :'”However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.”
The first event referred to was the Exodus, God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt. It was a defining moment for the nation of Israel and a point of reference for them always, a reminder of how God had stepped in to history and saved them. But Jeremiah says this will not be the only time the people know God’s rescue and help, and points to a day still in the future, when God’s people will once again see God intervene to bring them back from exile. This event will be another reference point, another turning point, in the history of Israel.They will have another testimony of God’s help and deliverance.
It can be hard when we are going through difficult times to believe God will step in and change the situation around, but Jeremiah promises the people of God a testimony of deliverance. We need to know God’s help and deliverance in the present day; we need a real-time testimony, so to speak. It’s good to look back at what God has done for us in the past; we are called to remember what God has done and to recount these things, not forgetting His help and rescue. But we are also people in whom God is currently working. Let’s be prepared to testify to God’s help and deliverance right now. What has God done for us this week? What is God saying to us? Jeremiah’s words took time to be fulfilled, but He spoke with the confidence of one listening to God. Can we do the same? Can we speak of God’s works even when we have yet to see them? Can we look at God’s help and hold on to it?
It’s good to speak out what God has done for us and to declare by faith what He will do.