When You Think You Have Nothing to Say

(Note: There's an important announcement at the end of this post, so make sure to read to the end!)

Do you like your testimony?

Maybe you don't. Maybe you think it's boring—powerful, maybe, and true, but basic. Boring. And if it's important, it's only important to you.

Or maybe you're thinking that all testimonies are valuable, regardless of how "boring" they are. And you're right! But you still think that you'd have more to talk about if you had a more interesting life. People would listen to you more than they currently do. 

In short, you feel like what you have to say isn't important. 

This isn't just about your testimony. It's a symptom of a larger problem: you don't think your story matters, you think you don't have anything to say. Maybe you get nervous when anyone asks you for advice because you don't think you're wise enough. Maybe you don't share the Gospel in conversations because you feel like your life is far too sinful for people to look at you and think that Christ changes a person.

Personally, I've felt... all of that. Have you? I'd guess that your answer is yes. 

You feel like you don't have anything to say. But that's false. And here's why.

 

Why should people listen to me?

When I first started this blog, I had some misgivings. (Excuse the tangent for a moment. I promise it's relevant.)

I figured that nothing I could write would be valuable to anyone. I was just a 16-year-old writer with little to no experience in writing nonfiction—and this was theology. I didn't have credentials. I didn't have a degree.

If my content wasn't valuable, what was the point? I'd just be wasting everyone's time.

And looking back, most of my early content is really not that great. I'd like to think I've gotten better at writing. Maybe. I'll leave that for you to decide. 😉

I was worried I couldn't effectively spread the message I wanted to. But I made a key decision: my writing wasn't about me, and it wasn't about what I thought. It wasn't based on my own authority. 

No, my writing would be based on something else. And that approach made a big difference.

 

Your foundation of truth

Why are you worried about sharing your ideas? 

It could be anything. You could be thinking something like: 

• Who would listen to me? I don't have a PhD. I'm a fallible human being.
• I don't have the authority to tell anyone what to do—I don't know any better than them. Who am I to say my ideas are right?
• Who cares? I'm not all that special. I'm just ordinary.
  

And some of that is healthy. We don't want to go around thinking that we know everything and that everyone should listen to us—that's just obnoxious, let alone arrogant. 

But if you never allow yourself to say anything? If you're too confused about what's true to even try? 

If you're a Christian, you don't have to be confused. Yeah, you won't know everything. But there are some things you can know with complete confidence.

The Bible is 100% true and reliable. If you're worried that your ideas aren't authoritative because you don't have authority, there's an easy solution: don't draw from your own authority! Draw from the authority of the Bible.

Make sure that your words (and your life) reflect the truth of Scripture. Be humble and seek to learn, but don't be afraid of saying something if you know it's Biblical—the Bible is true, and it isn't prideful for you to say that. 

When I started this blog, I committed to always write Biblical truth. I didn't want to just write about my opinions. I was going to write about what I knew to be true, and then I wouldn't have to worry. 

Well—I committed to try, at least. I'm sure I haven't done it perfectly. But I have prayed, and I have learned, and I have tried. 

When you speak, seek to speak the truth.

 

Your life experience

In Andrew Peterson's book Adorning the Dark—which is a book everyone should read, by the way—Peterson writes about how he felt this way when someone asked him to lead a conference. He didn't think he had any wisdom or authority to share. 

But he did it anyway. He said that everyone, including him, has a unique perspective and story to tell—in his words, "you know and understand things about the heart of God that only you can teach." (Adorning the Dark, page xii)

What has God done in your life? Specifically your life? What have you learned about Him as a result? How has He been faithful to you? 

If you can answer one of those questions, you have something to say. 

You might not have a dramatic conversion story like Paul's, and you may not have a testimony of faithfulness under persecution and need like George Muller's or Corrie ten Boom's. But your God is the same God as theirs. He's just as faithful to you as He was to them. 

And your life experience matters. You've experienced God's grace in a way nobody else has, and if other people's stories have inspired you, your story might inspire someone else in the same way.

But it won't if you never share it. 

 

"I love to tell the story."

You DO have something to say. You have the unique, personal story that God has given to you to tell. 

And you have the Gospel. 

Those are both stories that people—believers and unbelievers—need to hear. Unbelievers need to hear your story because the Gospel is the story that leads to life—as Romans 10:14 points out, "how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?" 

And believers need to hear your story because it will remind them of God's faithfulness. Your story will build them up, strengthen them. Encourage them. 

Have you been encouraged by a testimony before? Then you know what I'm talking about. 

God works in every one of His people. If you are His child, He is working in you. 

So talk about it.

 

What I know

I don't know what's in the future for me, for this blog, for my stories, or for anything. It's certainly a possibility that no one will ever read anything I write. Maybe I won't have the impact I want. I just don't know.

But I do know one thing, and that's that God loved me enough to send His Son to die. Jesus has made me clean by His blood. Through no merit of my own, my soul is secure.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit, I'm going to seek to tell that story of God's faithfulness everywhere I go. 

 

PS: Since you do have a story, and it is important for that story to be heard, I am opening up this blog for guest posts! Here are some guidelines:

• Write a testimony of God's faithfulness to you. It doesn't have to be your conversion story, though it certainly can be—it can be large or small scale, life-changing or not. It just has to be true.
• You have to be signed up for my email list (just so I know you're not some random person from the Internet!)
• I'll edit your writing to make it more clear, but I'll preserve your wording and voice as much as possible.
• Your story should be roughly 700–1000 words.

Email submissions to rosesofgraceblog@gmail.com. I reserve the right to not publish all of them, but I'll share all that I can! That is, after all, the point. 😉