**This may look a little long, but I SWEAR, it’s worth it to hear.**
Something that has really been pressed on our squad these first months has been “the power of words”. It is a concept many of us probably know, but don’t put a lot of thought to. The power of words put simply is just that there is power in your words, so choose them carefully. However, words can also be powerful because they could cast a vision of the Lord or prophesy over someones life just the same way they could tear someone right down and cause someone to question everything. Words especially carry power when we share our story. Just you choosing to share your story could be the thing someone else needed to hear to realize they’re not alone. They may even change their life.
We have gotten to the point in our race where we are starting to face or form our testimonies. We are being asked to share in front of churches, small groups, and even just people on the street. Sharing your story is so powerful. I’ve mentioned before that it is hard for me to tell my story because I don’t feel like it has an “ending”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like there is ever an end to anyones story. However, I do feel like there is a part in someones story where there is redemption because they actually repent and turn away. Until lately, I don’t feel like I had a worthy enough moment or that I was far enough away from my sin that I could claim a story for the Lord. I felt like my story was more damage than help.
Until Frank.
I am going to share a piece of a story from someone here in Ecuador that made me realize EVERY story is worth hearing. There is power in words and there is so much hope in hearing someones story. Frank is the youngest in his family. When he was little he had a busted ear, was struggling to talk, and was in and out of surgeries to try and fix them. His mother, basically since birth, rejected him. She would ignore him, didn’t show him love, and even would abuse him to the point where he didn’t know if he would live. This became such a problem for him–being rejected and not knowing why–that he left the house as soon as he could at 16 or 17. Once before he left, he even tried to take his life. He had a gun in his hand, to his chin, and was getting ready to pull the trigger, when his tiny nephew walked in asking him to hold him. Frank luckily came to his senses, but soon after that day he left home. If he wasn’t going to die there, he definitely wasn’t going to keep living there. When he left, he really had no where good to go so he became a thief. He at this point had a gun and a bike, so he lived by rebelling and stealing. Eventually, he got thrown in jail for all of the things he was doing. He was in and out of jail often. Once when he got out, he started murdering people. Frank was doing anything he could to live outside of the law. He even changed his name at some point just to get a clean record of all of his charges…but then added new charges to that name.
At one point, he was in prison the longest he had been. He was begging to be released, and for the first time, decided to turn to God. He pleaded with the Lord that, if he got out, he would never do anything again–a promise many of us have made in dire situations. He had everything lined up for an escape; he would go to the hospital and pay off people to get him out from there…but it never happened. This broke Frank. He didn’t know why the Lord kept him there, he didn’t have any money at this point because he had paid everyone off, and he didn’t have any hope. Frank became depressed for months, never even leaving his cell. One day, out of no where, the guards came looking for him telling him he was being released. Frank had no idea where this had come from, especially after the failed attempts months ago, but he was ready to get out. “It could have only been God.” Determined to change, he went home promising God he would do better.
However, he did not change.
Frank went home to his now wife and went back to doing the same thing over and over. He had gotten into trouble too many times, and had warrants out for his arrest. He felt he had no meaning and wanted to just run away and start over. “Maybe if I moved to Spain, things could be completely different.” So Frank spent all of his money on a ticket, abandoned his then pregnant wife, and started off for Spain. Unluckily for Frank, when he got there, they wouldn’t let him board the plane because they found out who he was. They were about to take him to jail, when Frank convinced the guards he would go turn himself in. Having no where to go, no money, and definitely not wanting to go to jail, he remembered that a few of his things were at his sisters house. They were Christians already, and little did he know they had been praying for his prodigal son moment. When he went to his sister, she allowed him to stay for a while, but after a while he had to go to church with her. This is the crazy part–through all of this the Lord was chasing Frank down, but until Frank was the one who chose to meet with the Lord, He just patiently waited for his son’s return. Frank walked into the church that night and was radically changed. He repented, cried out to God, finally decided to believe and not speculate and was even baptized.
The story only gets better.
Frank returned and made amends with his wife–they now have multiple children and live as missionaries for the Lord. However, he realized he needed to face the root of the problem if he were really going to be fully healed by the Lord. He needed to face the rejection of his mother (even in telling this story today years later, Frank tears up). Frank asked the Lord to reveal to him why his mother hated and rejected him so. It is amazingly powerful the things the Lord will reveal to us if we just ask and invite him in. He is a gentleman, he will not push, but when invited in, he will tenderly respond to our cry and heal our brokenness, piece by piece. The Lord revealed to Frank that his father was not actually his father; he was the son of the neighbor and because his mother lived in so much shame from one drunken night, Frank was rejected before he was even born. Because of his strength in the Lord, Frank decided to face his mother and tell her what he knew. She broke down crying saying she felt so bad and ashamed. (This part blows me away) FRANK APOLOGIZED to his mother for all of his wrongs, asking forgiveness, without seeking her apology. He knew what she had done was wrong, but knew more his responsibility because the Lord would work in her. He prays for her everyday to have the strength to speak out and repent.
Following this, Frank went and sought out his real family and allowed the Lord to rewrite what a father was in his heart. Though he had been rejected by his earthly mother, and didn’t know his father, the Lord showed Frank how important he was as a son of the King. Frank has a pretty happy ending at this point, his father accepted and loved him, as did his 12 other children. He has a wonderful wife and great kids and they are on fire for the Lord. He wakes up daily to praise and love on God and tells every person he meets about Jesus and the wonders the Lord has done in his life. He now knows the devil was trying to silence and deafen him at a young age because he knew the end of Franks story–he would hear from the Lord and have a powerful voice to tell others about Him.
Stories like Franks reveal so much about our Father. He pursued Frank through it all, protecting him through life or death situations, sweetly following him through the dark, and waiting on him until he finally came to the cross on his own. God worked miracles through Frank in his own life, and even in others (stories I could write blog after blog about I am sure). But most of all, the Lord took this broken hearted man, and redeemed his story purely. by. LOVE. Frank’s boldness in sharing and genuine love for the Lord has inspired me. If the Lord could go after the man Frank used to be and then use him, why could the Lord not redeem me?
We all have a story, no matter how little we think it is (@ my teammate Emilie Blomberg who didn’t think she had a story, but shared it anyway and brought people to tears…GO READ HER MOST RECENT BLOG) or no matter how big it is. The Lord is present through it all, and the power in sharing our story LITERALLY scares the devil so much he tries to take peoples voice away. We aren’t called to be a docile church that just makes our mess look pretty and present a perfected story to the world. We are called to be an authentic church. A LIVING BODY. We are supposed to be bringing people into the Kingdom to taste and see of the love of our Father and King. The best way we can do that is by sharing our stories. If Frank, a murderer, prisoner, thief, and rejected son could be swept into the loving arms of the Father, we all can. His story has reached nations and he will never stop sharing because he is not only thankful of what the Lord did for him, but he knows how important it is to reach others and tell them about what God can do for them.
I challenge y’all to think, just as Frank challenged me: Who can y’all reach if you just share your story?
