THAILAND HERE I COME
I am about to leave Guatemala and head for Thailand. Right now I’m at a debrief in Antigua preparing to fly out of on the 10th. We will arrive in Thailand on the 13th. My team and I will be living with our ministry host in Chang Daou. We will be doing ministry as farmers while also working in an orphanage. There’s about to be a whole lot of change in my life! I won’t be living with the whole squad. I won’t have a bed. I won’t have hot showers. I won’t have a crazy nice base to relax at. I may not have a kitchen. Ministry is going to be crazy different. Not to mention the culture is going to be like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
With the first third of the Race being done the world race alumni team leaders are going home. (Don’t worry; we still have our faithful squad leaders with us.) With that, the squad leaders have given some of us racers positions of responsibility such as team leaders, worship activators, and storyteller. I am now the squad storyteller. Essentially I’ll be responsible for making sure that each of us racers blogs each week. I’ll help people see the purpose in it and help give ideas for blogs.
I find it ironic that I’m the squad storyteller because I’m no good at making up stories; but thankfully I don’t have to. God is the great storyteller; He’s the one shaping each of our lives and piecing it together into the greatest story ever told. All I have to do is share what He’s doing and encourage others to do the same.
WHY TELL YOUR STORY
One very important reason to tell your story is for your own remembrance. In the Old Testament the LORD is constantly calling the Israelites to remember how He has miraculously provided for them. He calls them to set up monuments and festivals to hold each year for this purpose. He wants them to remember so that they continue to trust Him and choose His way. If they do this He promises them peace and abundant prosperity. Despite His constant calling to remember the Israelites continually forget and bitterly complain and turn to sin; because of this they face hardships and constant warfare and oppression. The Lord repeatedly rescues them from the evil resulting from their own choices; calling them to remember and stay faithful. Repeatedly, though, they fall away.
The Lord was so faithful to them and they had seen mind blowing miracles. They had seen the ten plagues in Egypt; they had seen the Red Sea parted; the Lord had provided them with manna from Heaven, quail from the winds, and water from the rock; He had gone before them and provided for them in every way. Yet they were so quick to forget. In hardship they wished to go back to Egypt! “Why did you take us up out of Egypt; it would have been better if we had stayed there under the yoke of slavery, rather than die of thirst here in the desert!”
When the Lord brought them to the Jordan to cross over into the Land He had Promised them; a land of ceaseless bounty, they were afraid they would be killed by those already there! None of these people entered the Promise Land because they were afraid; because they did not remember the Lord’s faithfulness; because they did not trust God. 40 years later their children crossed through the Jordan on dry land and gave them supernatural victory over every one of their foes. But even they began to forget the Lord. They turned to other gods and abandoned the prosperous way the Lord had set before them. As a result they faced repeated wars and repeatedly were under oppression. Throughout the entire book of Judges the Israelites repeatedly turn away from the Lord despite His repeated faithfulness to deliver them.
I am filled with sorrow at how the Israelites grieved the Spirit of the Lord by their persistent unfaithfulness and forgetfulness. But I’ve started to realize that too often I am just like the Israelites. The Lord has done so much for me. He has rescued me from so much. He has been faithful time and time again, yet still I forget and doubt and fall away. Yet He is always faithful. Praise the Lord. I must do my best to live in remembrance of the Lord’s faithfulness. The Lord has never failed me. He has always shown up; He will always show up.
Not only is telling your story a reminder for yourself, it is a testament to those around you. It can be the means by which lives are changed and transformed. The Lord has performed mighty miracles and crazy acts of faithfulness in your life and He wants to do the same for everyone else. When you share what the Lord has done in your life it can impact someone for eternity. Sharing about the love you’ve experienced from God can cause someone else to experience that same love for the first time. Sharing about how the Lord has given you boldness and faith to step out and do uncomfortable things can inspire someone else to do the same.
Sharing how the Lord has impacted you will impact others. All you have to do is be vulnerable and bold. You don’t have to be a great orator or writer. One of the greatest leaders in history had this worry. The Lord’s response to Him is the same for all of us: “Then the LORD asked Moses, ‘ Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I. The LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.’” – Exodus 4:11-12
YOU HAVE A STORY
Now you may be thinking; this is awesome… for those with a story to tell, but I don’t. Wrong. You have a story to tell. God is working in your life. God created you for a purpose. He is shaping you to be what He wants you to be and He has you just where He wants you.
If you don’t feel like you have stories I would encourage you to come to the Lord about it. What is He saying? God is the great storyteller and He wants to use you in amazing ways. Step out in more faith. Do harder things. Adventure more. Love more. I’m telling this to myself as well. It’s so easy for to coast. It’s so easy to grow stagnant. It’s so easy to grow comfortable and get in a routine of doing things the easy way. But when living this way the focus is always on oneself. If life is easy are you really living in the full potential God has for you? God has promised persecution for those that are following Him; in what ways are you suffering? Suffering is hard but it is where growth happens; it’s where inspiring stories are created.
Even as I write this I feel convicted about certain things. Books, movies, video games, social media, food, sleep, etc. These things aren’t wrong. But are they right? “You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons too. What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is? You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.” – 1 Corinthians 10:21-24
Would the Lord be roused to jealousy by the amount of time you spend doing certain things? I know for sure there are things in my life that would. These things are permissible but they are not the best. The Lord allows these things but He has so much more if you choose Him. I would encourage you to either give those things up entirely or to invite others into them. The Lord has made this world to be pleasing but don’t be distracted from Him by those pleasures. Give glory to God for those pleasures and invite others into them. Be generous. Consider others. Build relationships. Love God and love people.
All that to say, God has an amazing plan for each one of us; but we can reject it. Though God is the great story maker He has given us a measure of control over our own stories. He has given us free choice. We can choose to live our own way or we can choose to live in the way of God. Buy into the story that God is writing for your life. Don’t ignore what the Lord wants to do in you. Listen. Obey. Live boldly. Live in such a way that you will be excited to give an account of your life. Because whether you want to or not you will have to at least once; before Jesus. This life is fleeting. Live it for Jesus so that you will be proud on that final day.
“Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12
YOUR LIFE CALLING
To live the best story ever told you need to let the Lord write your story. Give him the drivers seat and trust that He is taking you to a good place no matter the long and hard road that might be ahead. If you aren’t sure specifically what the Lord is calling you into, that isn’t an excuse to live your own life. Open the Word and you will find what you are called to do:
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me… I tell you the truth, when you didi it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” – Matthew 25:34-36, 40
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-3
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” – Proverbs 31:8-9
The passages are too numerous to list. But it can all be summed up in one simple statement: love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and love people as Jesus has loved you. You have a story. You are a storyteller. Now go live it out.
“O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3 stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
5 For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors—
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.”
– Psalm 78:1-8
