Nearly four years after I shared my testimony for the first time, I received a message on Instagram that said, “We heard your story at your church, and that night we took the step to get involved in foster care, and today we are adopting a sibling group because of it.” I was seventeen when I shared my testimony for the first time, and according to some, I was not “ready.” I was not “mature enough.” And I definitely wasn’t “healed enough.”

Very well. I may not have been “ready,” but God’s people were. To say I was not ready, then, is to say those kids shouldn’t have been adopted at that time. To say I was not healed enough to do what God had called me to do is to say a family shouldn’t have stepped in to serve when they did. Stepping into our callings compels others to step into theirs. That doesn’t guarantee we are doing it perfectly, but what a joy to serve the Lord while a little wobbly rather than not at all.

As Revelation 12:11 says, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” We overcome through sharing the testimony of what God has done in our lives.  When we revisit the past through storytelling, it is nearly impossible not to see how God was there in the midst of our struggles. When we tell our stories, our eyes are opened to God’s faithfulness and closeness along the journey. And when we share our testimonies, people respond with their own testimonies. When we go and tell, others go and tell. Storytelling breeds storytelling. Stepping into our callings encourages others to be brave, despite their not-enoughness, and step into what they’ve been called to do.

In Scripture Jesus tells people to go and share, to tell what he has done in their lives. Jesus believed stories were important too.

Mark 5 tells the story of a demon-possessed man living in a cave where the dead were buried. Though the man could not be restrained, Jesus healed the man—and once he was healed he went from demon-possessed to “perfectly sane.” The bewildered bystanders who had seen this maddened man wreaking havoc were shocked by the miracle of Jesus. The witnesses did not walk but ran to the nearby towns and the surrounding area, spreading the news and telling the story of Jesus’ miracle.

Jesus then went to leave, and as he was getting into his boat, the man Jesus had healed begged to go with Jesus. The man wanted to walk, learn, and live beside Jesus too. And Jesus, having one will with God, doing all things on earth for the glory of his heavenly Father, responded to the man and said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” Instead of inviting this man along, Jesus encouraged the man to go and share his testimony.

The following verse says, “So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.”⁶

What is so incredible about this story is that even though plenty of other people had witnessed this miracle and told the story, and though even more people would likely continue to tell the story, Jesus told the man he healed to share his own story to his community and family. Rather than asking the man to come along so he might become “ready” or “more healed” or “more equipped,” Jesus found it most valuable for the man to go and tell his story right then and there.

The man was healed, and his witness was a testament of what Jesus had done. He did not have to muster his own human greatness to do the work of God, because Jesus had already told him what to do. Jesus did not tell the man that he needed to do x, y, and z to get ready to do the work of God. He simply needed to go and tell because his witness was enough. His story would give others hope that they, their family members, and their friends could heal too. Ultimately, his miraculous story would bring people to the healing power of Jesus. Then the formerly demon-possessed man, now a saint, would discover even greater healing and hope as he watched his words heal and bring hope to others. He would walk with Jesus in his heart, even though he did not walk with Jesus on foot. This man is an example to each of us to go and tell of what God has done in our lives, even if we don’t feel quite ready.

So if he opens doors, be brave enough to walk through them. Rest assured that the learning experience to come will make you more like Christ than you would have become had you shut the door and waited to be ready. First Timothy 4:12 says, “Do not let anyone treat you as if you are unimportant because you are young. Instead, be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life.”⁷

If you are a parent, you know it is normal to mature and grow as we raise our children. I become a better parent because I continually parent. I do not become more Christlike in my motherhood by shutting down or waiting until I am “ready” to be a better mom. It’s the same with any vocation. Of course we aim for a general level of maturity, but our vocations and God-given purposes refine us as we continue to engage in them.

I do want to add a caveat. Impulsivity is a trauma response, and at certain times, Jesus urged the ones he had healed and the crowds who saw it to not tell anyone. For example, in Mark 1: “Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.’”⁸ People talking about Jesus’ miracles drew crowds, and sometimes it made it hard for Jesus to go to his next destination. Every time we go on mission or go and tell, we should prayerfully discern if that is what God wants us to do—but we do not need man’s validation when we have God’s approval.

Before stepping into ministry or any purposeful work, we should aim to look like Christ in character. When we proclaim Jesus’ name but look like the opposite, we do damage to our witness. But we do not have to be ready by the world’s standards to accept what God has called us to. We do not have to be perfect and poised to step into our purpose.