A four-year-old gave me a prophesy

sketchesbypaul.wordpress.com.
This is not Aubrey.

A week or so ago I went to Washington, D.C. to visit some friends.  After examining several options of travel, I narrowed down my choices to either driving my car by myself or taking the train to NYC to take a bus from NYC directly to Washington, D.C.  I equivocated for quite some time, arguing with myself about which would be the best way to travel.  I could drive, which would be convenient and the most enjoyable, or I could use public transit, which would be environmentally friendly and more financially responsible.  Since I was traveling alone, I decided to use public transit to honor God's creation and to use His money a little bit more wisely.

Lauren graciously agreed to take me to the train station.  I was working a double shift at work until 4:00 p.m. and was hoping to quickly pack and take a 5:00 p.m. train to NYC.  I tend to overestimate my ability to move quickly and get things done and didn't leave my house until 5:15 p.m.  Lauren and her precious four-year-old daughter Aubrey helped me pack and we decided that my travel plans would still work if I caught the 6:00 p.m. train.  We arrived at the train station with time to spare.  Lauren, Aubrey and I walked up to the train platform and waited for the train.  I was excited to have my two favorite ladies with me while I waited for the train.  Aubrey was in good spirits and was excited to be at a train station, where every train is Thomas the Train despite the train's appearance or size.

My train arrived and I did my last minute pocket check which includes a check for the following: my wallet, my cell phone, my keys and my badge.  Realizing I should have done this check long before my train arrived, my heart began to pound as I realized my cell phone was not in my pocket.  I quickly checked my bag and my cell phone was not there either.  Oh man.  This was bad.  I could not miss this train or I would miss my bus in NYC.  I looked at Lauren with a helpless look at Aubrey was yelling, "Stephen, get on the train!  Stephen, this is your train!"  I had to make a decision: no cell phone for a week without an ability to contact my friend to pick me up at the bus station in Washington or to miss this train and figure out alternative travel arrangements.  I picked my cell phone and watched my train leave the station.

We quickly ran back to Lauren's car, where my cell phone lay stuck between the passenger and the center console.  Once in the car, I used my phone to frantically research if I could catch the train at another train station.  While I looked up train times, Aubrey was innocently absolving herself of responsibility for me missing my train.  "Stephen, I screamed and yelled that the train was there, but you didn't listen!  Next time, I'll yell louder so you can get the train."  I told her it wasn't her fault.  She said, "I know, you forgot your phone, just don't forget it next time."  I laughed.  I was worried she was taking blame she didn't deserve.  She was just reminding me that I was wrong in the cutest way possible.

Lauren and I decided there was no way I could catch the train at the next two to three stations, but we thought there was one train that we possibly may be able to catch.  The train would arrive in 30 minutes and we were forty minutes away by car.  We were determined to get me to that train station to catch my train, but traffic and possible law enforcement activity could prohibit that from happening.  I was frustrated, annoyed with God a bit too. "What's the deal, Jesus?  Did you miss the prayer about smooth travel arrangements?  I chose all these inconveniences to honor you.  Remember that?"

With nothing left to lose, Lauren calmly chose to drive to the train station forty minutes away.  As she drove responsibly but swiftly, I turned around to look at Aubrey in her car-seat behind me.  "Aubrey, can I hold your hand?"  I asked.  She gave me a look unique to Aubrey.  "Um, why?"  I told her that I was nervous about missing my train and it would make me feel better.  "Stephen, we are going to get there with five minutes left," Aubrey prophesied.  I felt a sudden boost of confidence.  I looked over at Lauren, who was intently focused on driving, and told her about her daughter's prophecy about our arrival time.  She and I entertained Aubrey's guess, but I secretly really did believe our little passenger.

As Lauren drove, I turned around to look at Aubrey to see how she was faring while her mother and I were having minor panic attacks as we kept getting stuck behind slow cars in the passing lane.  (Okay, it was mostly me having minor panic attacks.)  When I turned, Aubrey had her hands folded in the praying position and was moving her mouth and stopped when I made eye contact with her.  "Aubrey, were you praying?!"  She denied praying, but it was obvious that she was embarrassed that I had caught her in a private moment.   I turned around to look back at the road to evaluate the traffic as we approached the area of our train station.  A car cut us off and as Lauren and I were about to shout encouragements and prayers at them (note sarcasm), I saw the license plate.  "PLN4YOU."  Seriously?  There's a license plate in front of me that says, "plan for you."  I am not the believer who typically goes for the "signs in license plates" kinda' thing, but this was a little too obvious to ignore.

After getting stuck at a red light, Lauren pulled in front of this train station.  Four minutes left.  Seriously?  Did the prophetic four-year-old princess almost get it right?  I encouraged Aubrey and thanked her for her prayers and prophecy.  I ran out of the car after telling them both that I love them.  I literally ran to the train platform to catch a train that was supposed to be arriving while I was running.  When I reached the platform, I observed that in my panic I had run to the wrong one.  I ran all the way back to the front of the train station to go back upstairs with suitcase and all to the correct platform.  Good thing that the train was about a minute or so late.  Aubrey was right after all.  Five minutes.  Maybe six.  I think it was five.  We'll go with five.

I have a "what came first: the chicken or the egg" dilemma.  Did Aubrey's bold statement about having five minutes left followed by her private prayer change circumstances or did God speak to her little heart first and fill her with the confidence to speak aloud?  I don't know that it matters because either way, God knew all the events as they would occur before their occurrence.

Regardless of the chronology of the events, a little girl made a big statement that would prove to be a prophetic declaration.  I was having a small cardiac event while this little girl prayed and rested in God's peace.  I'm starting seminary, she's starting vacation Bible school.  Who has more faith?

As I think about it, maybe there isn't some deep theological meaning from this true story.  Maybe I am stretching to find meaning in a coincidence.  I do know after ten years of following Christ that He does not leave anything to chance.  God is either in control or He's not.  And because I believe that He is sovereign and in control, I believe that eliminates the possibility that Aubrey made a "lucky guess" and that her prayer was only a display of a little girl playing make believe.  Nope, God honored Aubrey's prayer, her faith and her boldness.  He didn't honor my fears.  Aubrey put herself in a place of blessing and trust, I put myself in a place of fear requiring rescue.  She's four.  I'm twenty-four.  I could use some childlike faith.  True story.

What hurts your testimony?

commentsyard.com

"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.  There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid" (John 5:31-32 New International Version).

For four years, I sat in the classrooms of the University of New Haven studying procedural evidence and witness testimony (in addition to other psycho-legal concepts).  I remember this one professor who was incredibly strict and would assign us case brief upon case brief.  He wanted to help us understand evidentiary procedure and knew that it was through painstaking review and study that we would understand how to avoid looking like a fool in a courtroom should we ever step into one.  At the time I was considering a career in law enforcement and the rules of evidence are significant for police officers.  Any illegally obtained evidence would not be presented in the courtroom.  One missing piece of evidence could permit the guilty to be declared innocent.  The onus of society's safety was placed in our hands in that classroom.  One evidence mistake could allow a killer the opportunity to kill again.

Part of evidence is a person's testimony.  There are various types of witnesses who can testify in a courtroom.  Expert witnesses can testify about topics ranging from psychology to entomology (the study of insects), offering their opinions about a specific topic based upon their professional study and experience.  Eyewitness testimony is presented by those who viewed the actual events and can tell of the details of the incident or date in question.  There are witnesses like police officers and investigators who tell of the process and results of their investigations.  There are so many rules as to what a witness can say and what a witness cannot say, who can offer opinions and who can offer only observations, and so on.

Jesus is no stranger to the courtroom of men.  Jesus makes a comment about testimony, a form of evidence.  He says there needs to be more than just His claim that He is God.  There must be corroborating evidence, evidence that supports His claim.  Jesus' agreement to the terms of human logic and evidence astound me.  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, says that His testimony is not valid.  Think about that for a moment.  Jesus' primary concern is for the salvation of mankind.  He is willing to humble Himself to the position of needing corroborating evidence.  Jesus could very easily have said, "Hey listen, I'm God, you've seen my work around here, you know that I speak about things that you do not know and you've seen me do miracles.  Believe in me or experience condemnation."  Yet He didn't do that.  Instead He offered the testimony of John the Baptist into evidence to validate His claims.  Later on in his testimony, He presents the evidence of the Scriptures and the teachings of Moses.  Jesus was His own lawyer and presented a case to the courtroom of mankind for His position as King.  They still found Him guilty and sentenced Him to the death penalty, by the way.

All of this started me thinking about the Christianisation of the word "testimony."  So often when Christians desire to share their faith with a person who does not believe Jesus' teachings, Christians share their "testimony."  I think that sharing our story of learning about Jesus is great, though I do not have a lot of thoughts about the formula we use to share our faith with other people.  I suppose that's a blog for another time.  Nevertheless, sharing our story of knowing God is really great because it is an opportunity to be humble and "get personal" with someone else.  So often Christians start this conversation with, "Can I share my testimony with you?"  And I can only imagine the thoughts of nonbelievers.  "Am I a judge?  Why are we getting legal here?"  I think that's why so often non-believers say "sure" with this upward inflection at the end of it, conveying confusion mixed with hesitation and curiosity.  They are preparing themselves to hear some type of evidence.  The Christian testimony is not a story of how we came to know God, but a story of how God is alive and working.  It's evidence.  The story is only a means of presenting the evidence.

Yet even Jesus recognizes that the story is not enough.  "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid."  Jesus presented corroborating evidence of other witnesses as well as the Scriptures and common law teachings about Moses.  The question that we must ask ourselves in the context of our current time in history is if our personal testimony has corroborating evidence.  Without corroborating evidence, the Christian testimony of an individual is merely a nice story to be read in Guideposts and then easily dismissed by nonbelievers with a line like "I'm glad you have had the experience and that God works for your personal happiness."  What is our corroborating evidence?  Who are our eyewitnesses?  What piece of our lives could be permitted into the courtroom of man to support our claims?  Our claims are invalid without our corroborating evidence.  Jesus knew that.

Imagine a testimony coupled with a passionate life of service to others.  A story of faith in Jesus partnered with a change in lifestyle, compassion and justice for the poor and oppressed, and a life of humility and love.  Imagine a testimony without some other witness who can refute the integrity of the witness.  Satan, the lawyer of the nonbeliever, then could not say, "Yes, you claim you are a believer but we have another witness here who says you were intoxicated and then had sexual relations with her" or "Yes, you claim to love others but we have the teller at your bank who says you hoard your wealth and spend frivolously."

All of our testimonies, especially mine, are filled with others who can refute our claims and remind us of our mistakes.  Satan's job is to accuse and Jesus' job is to justify us before God.  Let's not beat ourselves up.  Still, Jesus' justification before God does not justify our lives before mankind.  And it is the hearts of men and women today that we seek to love and encourage into a pursuit of Jesus and eventually eternity with Him.

One of the flaws in my testimony is my pride.  I want to serve others and love humbly, but sometimes I cannot seem to get out of my own way.  I think about myself too much and do not think of others enough.  Sometimes when I think of others, I am really thinking about myself.  "I should help this person because that would make me feel better."  I admit that I am working on this issue and asking God to help my life be all about Him and His kingdom and not me about me.

What are the things in your life that hurt your testimony?  I would love to engage in discussion about this through email or through the comments section at the end of this blog.  What steps do you think you can take to have more corroborating evidence of your Christian testimony?  How solid is your testimony?

When I sat in those classrooms of University of New Haven, I felt pity for those in law school.  I didn't think they would one day point me to better understand the teachings of Jesus.  His truth is all around us if we listen.  True story.