YOUR STORY MATTERS

About a decade ago I stood in front of a class of secular community college students and discussed the power of sharing our stories. In that same moment, I shared my story. It was daunting. After all- I was only nineteen and my audience could certainly have been better, but God used that moment for his glory. We cannot allow the fear of sharing our story hold us back and cripple us. God wants us to move forward in our fear with the knowledge that he has it under control. He is the one who produces growth. We are simply working in the field.

1 Corinthians 3:6-9

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the one who waters have one purpose., and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For

Therefore, begin your evangelism with this humility. We do not have the ability to make anything happen- but God blesses our work and allows it to grow. The Holy Spirit is a necessary entity in this growth equation. In fact, we may never know the fruits of our labor, but God does.

It was a seemingly ordinary day, but God used it for his purpose, his good. This moment changed the trajectory of my life. My sociology class assignment required I choose a topic and share the legacy I wanted to leave with the world, if that was my last opportunity. Most of the class chose silly topics and did not take the assignment seriously. But I decided to take the assignment to heart. What would I want to leave as my legacy? I chose to talk about stories. We all have them. They are important and we should share them with one another. Then I shared my story. I talked about a past of brokenness and abuse and the hope God had for me in the future.

Keep in mind, I was nineteen years old, had never shared my story in a public forum, and class presentations made me nauseous. On their own, these were not exactly ingredients for success. That day I chose to be brave. I made the decision to not let my fear overwhelm my faith. I had no idea how people would respond- and it didn’t really matter to me. I only knew what I had been called to do, so I followed through.

In your obedience, you may never see a direct effect. But remember, our obedience never returns void. God gives us a double portion of what we have given. That day, God blessed me immediately, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Following my presentation, the response was overwhelming. But we should never seek to attain notoriety from the masses but to impact the ONE.

My ONE that day was the person I had become closest to in class in a “I sit next to you and talk small talk and assignments close” not a “let’s talk about deep things close.” There is a distinction. However, after that day, something shifted in her. She had yet to present but she had her topic mapped out. Her presentation was the next class period and was going to be frothy- just like all the others. But after I shared my story, she made the conscious decision to share her story. She revealed the fact that she had previously tried to take her own life. I had no idea. In fact, she had never shared this with anyone. But that one day, she was inspired by my bravery and knew it was time to share her story. This was a step towards healing. While I planted several seeds that day, I don’t know if any of them reached the soil. But hers landed and planted. I don’t know much about her life. We are Facebook friends, but the one thing I do know is she took one small step towards having a head on collision with Jesus.

Our stories matter. There is someone in your life who needs to hear your story. All stories have a low point of brokenness and pain. But there is redemption to be found in every story! If God hasn’t redeemed your story yet, he is waiting on you!

Since that day, God has given me the opportunity to remind young women of the beauty in their story. God brings beauty from ashes and in the beauty, power is found!

Revelation 12:11

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”

There is redemption in his blood and power in our testimony.

I will confess- I put off being baptized for many years because of the fear in sharing my testimony. It was less daunting to share my testimony with a class full of strangers than with my church body.

Perhaps I was afraid because my wounds were still open and oozing. Or because my story is still being written.

But aren’t all our stories unfinished? We can choose how we view our story.

We can be victims and wallow in our self-pity.

We can be victors and give glory to the God who rescued us from our brokenness.

Or we can recognize that through Christ Jesus, we are more than conquerors.

Our story is the one thing we have that no one can away or discredit. Our experiences cannot be questioned.

Our theology or biblical understanding may be questioned, but the validity of our story still stands. For it is the greatest witness to the power of Jesus Christ in our lives.

YOUR STORY MATTERS!

Sharing the gospel is daunting- so start spreading the good news with an eye witness account of how you were dead and are now alive, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Step out in faith and share your story today. Then stand back and watch God work.