Since I was a child, I have always loved a good story. A voracious reader, I would get pulled into characters’ lives, the unraveling of circumstances, seeing how the various characters involved responded to them. Think back to a book you read, a movie you saw, a news event—the details of which have stuck with you over time.
Stories have the ability to inspire, inform, pierce your heart, educate, fill you with hope.
Stories draw you in. They draw you closer. Close enough to see. See that the neighbor who seems unfriendly has recently received a devastating diagnosis. That the coworker you find hard to get along with is going through marriage struggles that are tearing her family apart. That the other dad on your child’s youth sports team lost his job and doesn’t know how he’s going to make ends meet. That the mom you see on her phone while her kids are at the park feels so alone in this season that she is grasping for lifelines to feel connected in this world. People you know have dealt with these situations and more: chronic illness, infertility, broken relationships, depression, just to name a few.
Some people are in the valley of their struggle and desperately need a hand to hold or to pull them up. Others are still in the midst of the fight—some days they persevere and some days they feel weighed down. There are still others who have made it through a hard time and are praying for the opportunity to make some beauty out of the ashes by walking alongside someone else in a similar circumstance.
More recently as our country seems to be ever more divided, I think of another aspect of our personal stories that is so important to redeeming the brokenness. We can easily look at the neighbor, coworker, friend or relative that votes differently than we do or holds a position different from ours and boil down our opinion of them to their vote or their position, instead of seeing what lies beneath the surface that has led them to that decision. If we took the time to ask questions and hear someone’s story, it may begin to change things. This doesn’t mean either person’s views have to change, and sometimes there is true evil or deep hurts that need a lot of work to heal, but in many cases, understanding what matters to another person will only help in the work of healing division. When Jesus tells us to “love your neighbor as yourself”, He is not only suggesting that command for when we like everything about a person. We have, in many ways, lost civility and kindness, and I believe the Church is the best equipped—and most called—to lead the charge back. Sharing stories is not the answer, but it is an important step in the right direction.
The fact is, we all have stories. We all have circumstances of our lives that, along with how we walk through those seasons, contribute to who we are becoming. Some are beautiful celebrations and cause for joy, others are more of a challenge, a trial. As I’ve gotten older and my relationship with Jesus has grown—and the stories that make up my life have grown, I began to see that God has given each of us our stories for three reasons: up, in and out. First and foremost, our stories are for His glory—an upward focus. There is also a personal, inward focus to our stories—to teach us something, to grow us and stretch us. The third way our stories can be used is in an outward direction—to walk alongside other people who may need to lean on what we’ve learned along the way or need a hand to hold as they walk a hard path.
Last year, I began reading through the Psalms. As I continued through, I began to note all the times that the Psalmist said to recount, tell, declare, remember, proclaim or in some similar way speak of instances of God’s faithfulness (40:5, 9-10; 44:1; 66:16; 67:2; 71:15, 18; 73:28; 75:1; 77:11; 78:5-7; 89:1; 90:16; 96:3; 105:1-5; 107:22; 111:4; 126:2-3; 143:5; 145:4, 10-12 if you’re curious!). Very notably in contrast, in Psalm 106, verses 7, 13, and 21 all speak, in reference to the Israelites wandering in the desert, as a time that they “did not consider” or “did not remember” God and His works. There is a very real connection to losing our way and forgetting God’s faithfulness. Sharing our stories with one another will encourage our faith and spur each other on when we walk through our own hard times so that we don’t lose our way.
Pastor Joe recently preached on Hebrews 11 in our series, Defining Moments. He talked about faith stories and how they allow us to go to deeper places with God. He posed four questions at the end of the series:
What is your faith story and who is Jesus to you?
How has God met you in your successes?
How has God met you in your suffering?
What areas of your character and relationships is He seeking to grow?
With this all setting the stage, the Riverbend writing team is excited to start recording our own Riverbend “Hebrews 11” stories, stories of God’s faithfulness within our community. We hope, as we begin sharing stories over the coming weeks and months, He will get much glory and you will be encouraged by hearing how God is at work in the lives of our church family. Also, in this strange season of Covid, we hope these stories will serve as a way of getting to know others in our church who you may not currently get to see, but who you could say of, as C.S. Lewis wrote, “What! You, too? I thought I was the only one.” If you are interested in sharing a story of God’s work in your life with our community, be on the lookout in the coming weeks for ways to volunteer.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
Your wonderous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
None can compare with You!
I will proclaim them and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
Psalm 40:5