You Have A Story

You have a story.

I could pretty much end this writing there and that should be profound for the majority of us, however the majority of us have forgotten how much power that those four little words possess.

YOU HAVE A STORY.

Here is what that means.

• You are important.
• You are valuable.
• You have experience.
• You have knowledge.
• You posses a viewpoint.
• You can make a difference.

Too many times we feel that our story is insignificant or that our experiences are not like everybody else.  If you have been in the church world for any length of time you know what I’m talking about.

Your story consists of the facts that you grew up in church, went to Sunday school your whole life, went to Awanas every Wednesday night and VBS every summer.  You were home-schooled and when you were 12 years old you saw a picture in a magazine that you shouldn’t have and when you were 16 you felt peer pressure to smoke a cigarette even though you didn’t you felt bad for putting yourself in that position.  You feel like your story is insignificant and carries little weight in the eyes of others.

Or maybe your story was that you’ve never been to church before in your life.  Your mom was a crack-head and from an early age you learned to defend yourself with a bow-staff and ninja stars.  At the age of 6 you were supporting yourself on the streets by selling heroine.  You wanted to change but you were making too much money and had to many employees working under you who depended on you.  Somehow you managed to get your GED and do some community college and one day somebody invited you to church and you checked it out and now your life has been changed forever because of that moment.  You’ve been on several shows, written a book and had a movie done about you and your story is impacting millions.

We read those stories and immediately are compelled to think that story #2 is so much more powerful.  Truth is just because a story has more flair to it doesn’t mean it is more powerful.  God can use your story to make a difference in the lives of others no matter what it is and no matter how “boring or powerful” it may or may not sound.  Your story is being written even today.  Your legacy is being formed.  The chapters of your life are yet to be determined.  You can’t change your past but you can change how you will look towards the future.  There is a story in bondage, brokenness, repentance, redemption and restoration.  All of us have been there and no what that feels like and therefore have a story.

Your story has power. What you are going through has purpose. The hurt you’ve experienced has meaning. Your broken heart, placed in the hands of Christ, has the potential to be a tool used to repair the hearts of others. My encouragement to you today is don’t give up. Don’t give in. Don’t underestimate the power of your story, partnered with the redeeming power of the Holy Spirit to transform, set free and restore the hearts and lives of others. Share your story today.

AND

THEN

LISTEN to their story.  It may be exactly what you needed to hear today from somebody else’s life.  Maybe part of forming your story is being there to help write somebody else’s.