God Speaks... Through Legacies
I LOVE musicals! I have been hooked to them ever since I watched the movie Phantom of the Opera and listened to the Wicked soundtrack (and then saw the Broadway which was amazing!) as a young girl. I love the art of creating a story with music and restating phrases throughout the story to teach an audience the key themes or lessons. It truly is an art to any ear willing to listen!
Within the last few years, a few friends introduced me to Hamilton, and I now know most of the lyrics (if not all) to the soundtrack. There are several songs that I love with lyrics that grip my soul, but there is one that contains my favorite statement in the whole musical.
Hamilton is having a moment where his life is flashing before he’s eyes, and he is having a debate in his head of what to do. He starts recounting his life wounding if he has done enough to guide the newborn United States toward success. He wonders how people will remember him, if they will keep his writings or if he wrote enough for them to fully remember him. During these few moments of internal debate before he makes a sacrificial choice, he states these iconic words:
Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you will never get to see!
Legacy… That is a word that has aroused various reactions within me. Inspiration. Fear. Discouragement. Pride. Hope. The intriguing aspect of legacy is that no one can gauge if they are creating a legacy within their own lifetime. It is only when one has deceased that another decides if that dead life is worthy of recalling.
If I am honest, I want others to remember me when I am with Jesus in eternity. However, I do not want them to remember me because I am worthy of remembering. I do not want people to recall memories of me that will put me on a pedestal. When I am long gone, I do not want them to look at my life and say, “Oh, Emily was a great person.” If that is the legacy I leave, then I would view my life mission as a failure.
I know failure is a strong word, and I know that I cannot control what people think about me. Also, to bring clarity, NO life is a failure! I was very careful to not state that my life would be a failure. Because my life is hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3), I am not and will never be a failure - Praise God!
With that disclaimer though, if the only thing people recall from my life is that I was a good person (friend, sister, daughter, etc.), then I spent my lifetime directing everyone’s attention on me. I do not want people to recall my life with all the ways I might have been loving and good if it only draws them towards my legacy. That is not the mission God has placed on my heart for the life He has graced me with.
The singing artist Nichole Nordeman wrote a song titled Legacy that I love, and the chorus is the prayer for my life:
I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough,
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering.
A child of Mercy and Grace,
Who blessed You Name unapologetically,
And leave that kind of legacy.
In the end (and even right now), I want my life to point toward Jesus in all that I do for others to focus on Him and His Glory, not me.
However, life can be hard and discouraging, and there are times when I wonder, “Am I making any difference for the Kingdom of God?” I have noticed the devil loves to come in that moment to whisper the lie, “Your life is worthless and is doing nothing for God”. I am just now learning to tell him to shut-up with God’s truth: “I AM making a difference in, through, and around you, Emily. Just trust Me and My timing, even when you do not see any difference.” Recently, He graced me with a moment to see a glimpse of how He is using my life in an extraordinary way.
A few weeks ago, my pastor asked me to share a testimony that God has been (and still is) writing within my life. There were a mix of emotions, but two of the strongest emotions were fear and excitement. It is not a small thing to stand up in front of a huge gathering and being vulnerable about a part of your life that has caused fear and shame. However, I deeply desired to share His story of grace in my life because I never want another soul to be held captive by the fear and shame that imprisoned me for too many years. Excitement filled my heart by this opportunity to love and encourage others about the goodness of God.
A couple of weeks before this past Sunday, The LORD reminded me of a passage in Revelations 12:11, “And they have conquered him (the devil our enemy) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death”. He then gently asked me, “Em, how will my children overcome if they are not vulnerable enough to share their testimonies? How will others who have struggled like you overcome if you are not willing to share the testimony of how my blood has healed and is healing you?” That was enough encouragement from my Heavenly Father to stand and declare His great Love to my brothers and sisters in Christ.
There is another disclaimer I want to share in this blog. God does not need me nor any other human to make an impact or difference on this earth. He is powerful enough to work miracles of Love alone. So, if God does not need us, then why would He want to use us? Simply because He CHOOSES to work His miracles through us due to His radical Love. It is a gift for us to share our testimonies of His great Love. In His grace, he gave me an opportunity to share His love with many last Sunday.
February 23, I stood before my church family (some who are new members and some who have known me since my birth, but most who had never heard the story I was about to share) and shared God’s testimony within my life. Lord willing, I will share that testimony in writing another day. What I do want to share right now is how God moved.
I am prone to easily cry anytime I am vulnerable and did not want that to interfere with me sharing His story, but God held back my tears until I walked off the stage and sat back in my seat (and then the floodgate opened, haha). My heart was quickly beating pitter-patter as I walked up to face the faces of many. I have often made this joke: “When Jesus saw the crowds, He felt compassion; when I see the crowds, I feel anxiety”. However, when I began to speak, anxiety left and all that remained was His Loving presence and His empowering Courage and Compassion. It felt like an out-of-body experience, yet I was fully present. I saw the faces. I saw some people’s tears. I heard their amen’s when I spoke Truth and Grace. I witnessed God use my testimony to offer a legacy of hope to others.
Since then, people keep telling me how encouraged they were by His testimony that I shared. I praise The LORD for touching each of these hearts and for the future hearts He will bless through this moment! I have noticed a common thread in each person’s words of thankfulness and encouragement towards me. They have all, in their own words, stated, “Thank you for your bravery and vulnerability in sharing your testimony”.
After reflecting on this miracle of God on Sunday, I have two main prayers:
That many will be blessed by the testimony Jesus empowered me to share. That they will not let shame hold them captive any longer.
That many will be encouraged to share their testimonies of how Jesus has been faithful and good throughout their lifetimes.
My dear friend, if you are a child of God, you have a testimony, and it is worth declaring from the mountain tops and in the valleys for all to hear and be encouraged by. You and I are living legacies of how God dearly and deeply loves us. We will overcome the enemy’s schemes if we are willing to come out of the shadows of shame and fear by being vulnerable enough to share how His Light has freed us! God can speak through the story – the legacy – He is writing within your life.
Are you willing to share the story the Great Author is writing within you? He always writes beautiful legacies that make an eternal impact, and yours is no exception. I, personally, would love to hear it!