The Power of a Story

All we have to give one another is our stories.  A few days ago, I wrote about "Ebenezer," the memorial rocks that the Israelites set in place as they settled in Israel, the rocks that would be testimonies to the next generation, and the one after that, of where and how "God has helped us" in this place.  Jesus said that if the children did not cry out his praise, the rocks themselves would shout out their testimonies:  here is where God has helped us!

The Bible is a book of stories:  this is what happened to me, to us.  Here is where God showed Himself to me, to us.  Here, in this place, is where I/we witnessed the glory, the help, the compassion of Yahweh, the One faithful to His people and to His promises.

In their stories, we find our stories.  We have the courage to believe that as they were helped, so shall we be helped.  In the Gospels, there was a man who wanted to follow Jesus, but Jesus told him, "Go back to your village and tell people what God has done for you."

Until we have experienced the profound comfort of God, until we have been washed by Him, or rescued by Him, Psalm 18 will be just a beautiful hymn to us:

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

He drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;

He rescued me because He delighted in me.

Once we have experienced being rescued from our enemies, who were too strong for us, though, Psalm 18 becomes our story, our hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God.  It's our "Ebenezer Rock:" here is where God has helped me!  Now, it's personal.

When the Bible becomes personal, it becomes a living book, expressing our innermost thoughts, giving words to what we ourselves can hardly express.  The church desperately needs witnesses to the truth -- "that God hears the cry of the poor, and those bowed down in suffering, He saves."  The church needs to hear not just Old Testament stories, but the stories of those who today have experienced the love of God.  We need to hear that The Lord is my shepherd...He guides me into paths of righteousness...and prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

It is no good teaching children that God loves them unless we ourselves know that to be true from our own experience.  Unless we are willing to share our own stories, our words will be beautiful, but not necessarily real.  One great place to start "believing from hearing" is GuidePosts Magazine.  Each month, we can read real stories of real people who have experienced the truth of God's love and help in a time of need.  Their stories give us hope; from them we can dare to believe that, just as God heard their cry, so will He also hear our cry.

When I tell my own stories to my students, it is not because I think I am special, but because I believe that what God has done for me, He will also do for them.  How I would love to see a place where the church of God could share their stories with one another, building up the faith of each one, putting down testimonial "rocks" that would shout out to the next generation:  Here is where God has helped us!