There is a great amount of darkness, hurt, and brokenness on campus, and people are hesitant to show this because of expectations on campus. People are expected to be fine, strong in their faith at all times, and unwavering in their walk with God. But realistically, we all are far from that. People are struggling through real things here, and are afraid to show it due to these expectations.
One thing that could help with this problem are testimonies. Testimonies are a powerful way of leading people to place their hope in God to heal them and find peace. Testimonies are the stories of God’s glory being shown through His children.
What is God’s glory? When Moses went up to Mt. Sinai to talk to God after the nation of Israel had rejected God, he asked for God to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18). God’s response was that He would show Moses His goodness, mercy, and compassion. Those are the words God used to describe His glory, and those attributes are what are shown in our testimonies. Today when we ask God, “show me your glory,” I believe He replies, “look around you.” Especially here on campus, there are over a thousand stories of God’s goodness, mercy, and compassion being shown in peoples lives. These are stories that we do not hear.
These stories of God’s glory can have an enormous impact on campus. Specifically, it can provide hope for a lot of people who are struggling. These stories can show these people that there are others on campus who have struggled through the same thing. Just as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that “no temptation has seized you, except what is common to man,” if someone is struggling with something, there will be at least one other person on campus who has struggled through something similar. Testimonies can show that people have gone through trials and struggles and have made it through and been sanctified through it because of the glory of God. God’s goodness, mercy, and compassion are shown through these trials and struggles in our lives.
The purpose of Stories of Glory is to provide a way for God’s stories of his glory to be used by God to reach the people on campus who need to see God’s glory. Testimonies are not about our personal triumph, or even about all our failures, but about God’s goodness, mercy, and compassion. As we share testimonies, the glory is not for us, but for God. We are unworthy of glory, but God is worthy of all glory and praise. Our stories are to point away from ourselves, and toward our Savior.