Story Telling

Again and again I am reminded of the power in telling our stories.  I love hearing the stories of others.  I love that we get a better glimpse into their lives, their hearts, their truths.  I love that each story is an invitation to come closer.  When someone shares with you it is a gift that is being offered.  We have a choice in how we respond.  I love the quote that someone shared with me this week  “Don’t listen to respond, listen to understand”.  How would that change things for us in our lives, relationships, friendships if we adapted this model?

As I was reading through the book of Matthew recently I saw how many times that Jesus used story telling.  He used stories to teach and to love.  It may feel easier for us to give advice or “fix” the problem that someone else is going through.  But no one likes feeling like a project to be dealt with.  By telling a story, our story, we can share a piece of our ourselves while allowing the person we are talking to to come to their own conclusions.  Isn’t that powerful?  We can share out of love and humble surrender.  We can share out of our pain and the consequences that we have learned.  We can share out of our struggle.  When we walk through the fires of life we can use that to show others how God has been present and faithful.  I get to know deeper and new areas of who God is by listening to others.  I love hearing how He has shown up for them, how He is creative, loving, merciful, funny, and intentional.  So often I listen as other’s share where or how they have seen Jesus and I think to myself “I didn’t know that about God”.  Simply by sharing, by listening we learn.

With sharing comes risk.  When we open ourselves up, we are being vulnerable to judgement, condemnation, gossip… to name a few.  It feels safer to be quiet.  It feels nicer to only share the stories that make us look good or like we have it all together.  To tell others how they should live.  What stands in the way of the intentionality that you crave in relationships?  We were created for community.  We long to connect and belong to something.  So often we are our own worst enemy.  We pull back, we don’t share due to fears, we isolate and feel alone even when we are with others.  We tell ourselves it is better.  We dilute the need.  We struggle with the lies of being too much or not enough… maybe both conflicting issues at the same time.

I did not have good friendships throughout high school.  I made the agreement that friendships were not worth it.  Thankfully, real life is not like high school.  By God’s grace and gifts I have wonderful friendships today.  That is not to say that there are not hurts to overcome at times, forgiveness to offer and receive, disappointments to go through.  But it is a choice.  A constant choice to be made.  One choice after the next has lead to the beautiful gifts that I treasure in my life- my friends.  I am grateful to do life alongside others who are willing to allow me in, to teach me, to challenge me, and to point me back to Jesus.

This comes down to one reminder for me that God challenges me with.  When God is asking me to share or invite others into my messy, imperfect life full of failures and the wish for “re-dos” it is HIM and Him alone that will keep my heart safe.  It doesn’t matter how others respond or do with the treasure I feel I am offering.  It comes down to simple obedience in Him.  He is my protector, my provider, my constant.

My husband has to attend a lot of different trainings for his job.  The one training that stood out to him (and me) most was one done by the FBI.  These experts came to train on a topic.  And you know what they shared?  Their screw ups.  They shared how they had done things wrong.  It feels easier to share how we nailed it.  But where the power truly lies is in the truth, the daily, the vulnerability.  We teach, we learn, we offer relationships at the core.

God continues to invite me into situations where I have to share the truth about who I am.  It is hard to not know how others are receiving this.  It is hard to walk away struggling with the questions “Are they judging me?”, “Do they think less of me?”.  But you know what?  When I bring these questions back to Jesus he reminds me of the truth.  I am safe because I have been obedient and given Him my story back.  He redeems, He uses, He protects.

Will you pray about being a story teller?  What story is Jesus asking you to share with others?