What's Your Story?
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;'"
—Revelation 12:10, 11a
Perhaps it is the abundance of unbelievable stories we absorb through movies and other media, but our culture, in many ways, has lost the art of story-telling. Perhaps it is yet another symptom of our "specialist" emphasis. (e.g. If you have a problem with your ears, you go to an E.N.T.; if you need a story you go to an author or movie producer.) Whatever the reason, as a culture we have devalued our individual stories.
Several years ago, my parents took a missions trip to Papua New Guinea. One of the things that made an impression on them during their visit was the storytelling culture. Any given person could regale you with the story of their life and family history. The same is true of many of the African cultures that I worked with in missions. Perhaps it is because their stories have not yet been drowned out by a summer blockbuster. But I have to believe that it is possible for us to reclaim the power of our stories.
I don’t believe that it is simply a good idea for us to think about our life story, I believe that it is imperative that we reclaim and tell our life story. There are three reasons we must reclaim our stories.
It reminds and encourages us.
Each and every one of us will experience a time of discouragement in our lives. If we take the time to write the stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives, then those stories will stand with scripture to remind us that God is always with us. When we write down the stories of the times we feel abandoned, then as we continue to seek after God, they will stand as a reminder to our prayers, and reveal to us how God answered each one.
It gives hope to others.
We are not alone in this. The things we experience today, someone else has experienced before, and someone else will experience tomorrow. When we tell our story, warts and all, it stands as a witness that they too will be able to make it through the difficulty.
It helps achieve victory.
In the book of Revelation, John states that the Saints of God overcame the Accuser (a name for the devil), by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and the word of their testimony. When we tell our story, the accusations of the Devil fall flat. The accusations against our worthiness and God’s love for us are all refuted by our story of God’s continued faithfulness to us.
Homework this week: Tell your story.
—Revelation 12:10, 11a
Perhaps it is the abundance of unbelievable stories we absorb through movies and other media, but our culture, in many ways, has lost the art of story-telling. Perhaps it is yet another symptom of our "specialist" emphasis. (e.g. If you have a problem with your ears, you go to an E.N.T.; if you need a story you go to an author or movie producer.) Whatever the reason, as a culture we have devalued our individual stories.
Several years ago, my parents took a missions trip to Papua New Guinea. One of the things that made an impression on them during their visit was the storytelling culture. Any given person could regale you with the story of their life and family history. The same is true of many of the African cultures that I worked with in missions. Perhaps it is because their stories have not yet been drowned out by a summer blockbuster. But I have to believe that it is possible for us to reclaim the power of our stories.
I don’t believe that it is simply a good idea for us to think about our life story, I believe that it is imperative that we reclaim and tell our life story. There are three reasons we must reclaim our stories.
It reminds and encourages us.
Each and every one of us will experience a time of discouragement in our lives. If we take the time to write the stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives, then those stories will stand with scripture to remind us that God is always with us. When we write down the stories of the times we feel abandoned, then as we continue to seek after God, they will stand as a reminder to our prayers, and reveal to us how God answered each one.
It gives hope to others.
We are not alone in this. The things we experience today, someone else has experienced before, and someone else will experience tomorrow. When we tell our story, warts and all, it stands as a witness that they too will be able to make it through the difficulty.
It helps achieve victory.
In the book of Revelation, John states that the Saints of God overcame the Accuser (a name for the devil), by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and the word of their testimony. When we tell our story, the accusations of the Devil fall flat. The accusations against our worthiness and God’s love for us are all refuted by our story of God’s continued faithfulness to us.
Homework this week: Tell your story.