I love stories. From childhood until present, I’ve always been a sucker for a gripping, raw, inspiring story. Whether it be a movie based on real events, a comical situation shared by a friend, or a tearjerker that uncomfortably, yet tenderly pulls your soul, each holds the ability to just… draw me in. I get it. I can picture a face to that story. Or, if I can’t, I’m a step closer to understanding.
I admire stories that don’t need to be manufactured, exaggerated, or exasperated.
But rather, when stripped altogether, they remain genuinely, entirely AUTHENTIC.
I start digging to search the roots of my fascination for stories… from my mom’s creatively epic bedtime stories, to the extensively vast accounts of the Bible, to historical novels and biographies, to the personal thrill of a close friend sharing her engagement story… why, after 22 short years of living, these stories undeniably continue to fuel the furnace of enjoyment within me from hearing (or telling) a story.
And I begin to grasp that… a story has the ability to come ALIVE,
Depending on how it’s told.
I realize that the best stories often carry deep opposition, directed by a route of messy tension and forsaken hope. I’ve encountered a glimpse of the detrimentally distraught situations people face around the globe, some who have discovered hope while others drown in despair. And while it shuts my mouth for a quick second to stop complaining about my lame, “surfaced” struggles… we each face them. Big or small. They are a part of life, a part of the tension God uses to draw us closer to Him.
Then- BOOM!!!!!
It hits me…
That’s why I was born.
That’s why YOU were born.
From birth until present, until the day we die, our lives are set in motion by a unique story, written for us individually by the Almighty Author. Junk and all, they’re messy for a reason, because we’re all walking dead without God’s grace that breathes afresh on us every day. Our lives often share a story words cannot produce alone.
This should make me WANT to tell it. Again, and again, and again. To fully, unreservedly, undeniably make declarations of God’s control in yesterday’s faithfulness, today’s promise, and tomorrow’s hope.
That by the moment I enter the gates of heaven, the pages of my life's book will be worn, torn, and rough on the edges… because I made full use out of it every single day.
So, whether I know what tomorrow holds or not, I can rest in this:
Stories are bits of history placed in the palms of our hands,
waiting to be shared.
So what's YOUR STORY?
– – -"For great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.” –Psalm 111:2 – – –
