Social media is great for sharing testimonies. People have many stories to tell that never get shared beyond one or two people because retelling a story over and over can be monotonous. As a kid we all learned the telephone game and its take away lesson: each time a story is retold the information gets more and more skewed. With the use of social media outlets like Blogger and Facebook, people can tell the story once and share it with thousands. Likewise, Twitter has replaced the old telephone game and is great for your friends to share your stories with their friends through retweets.When I was living in Texas with my husband, God used me to share his love. At the time, my husband, Dennis, and I were on a high, having just come back from our first church retreat. Headed to the bus station, we were signing our hearts out to the tune of a new worship song. When we arrived, we met a woman who had just gotten back from the doctor and had her eyes dilated.
We began casual conversation and found out that she was taking the same bus. Since she couldn’t see very well, we decided to help her find the bus when it came. While we were waiting, conversation went from talking about my husband’s military career, to our newlywed story, and then drifted into a conversation about God. Eventually, the woman began telling us about her husband, a military veteran, who had recently died. She was in a difficult place and struggling with her faith, but kept talking about the Lord.
The conversation ended with all of us talking about how wonderful God is and encouraging each other with our words. The woman passed on her wisdom in relationships, while my husband and I consoled her and reaffirmed her faith. It was amazing that we were complete strangers having such an intimate conversation!
During the bus ride, I started to feel like I needed to give this woman a letter I had received from the retreat. The letter was written to me from God talking about how much he loved me and how beautiful I was to him. I did not want to give it away. Instantly, I began making excuses as to why I shouldn’t give it to the lady. Eventually, I surrendered to the Lord’s calling. Then I realized, the letter should have been buried in my luggage, but it was in a bag right on top. Why was the letter right there so easy for me to grab on the bus?
As the bus pulled up to it’s second stop, the woman stood up and gave my husband and I a final goodbye blessing. I got up and gave her a hug and handed her the letter saying, “I want you to have this. God bless you.” Then she got off and I smiled, content with what I had done. I thought that was the end of it. But, the bus sat there for a few minutes – weird… I thought.
As I was sitting there, waiting for the bus to take off, the bus driver opened the door. All of the sudden the woman walked back onto the bus crying. She look directly at me and said, “I love you.” She came over and gave me a hug continuously saying “I love you,” and “thank you.” The whole thing lasted only a few seconds, then the woman got off the bus and we left. I was completely shocked. Once the woman had gotten off the bus, she had read the letter, even with her eyes dilated, which surprised me. I did not know that she was doing this of course. I was just sitting on the bus oblivious.
Instantly I reflected: God had used my encounter with this woman to pour into her life during a hard time. I had no idea it was going to happen. He planned every detail: the bus stop we used, the bus we took, my husband and I signing the worship song which started the conversation, the letter sitting on top of my stuff when it should have been packed, and the bus stalling at the stop. I was so encouraged. God had used me to help this woman who had just lost her husband. I learned a lesson and she received his love. He is so good.
I think this is a very powerful story that brings inspiration. However, I have only told it to about 5 people. After learning how to use social media, I am able to share to many – some I don’t even know. I believe God will guide my testimony though social media to get to the right people, just as he did that day on the bus.
Discussion Question: How has God used you to spread love?