It’s Your Story; Share It

No difficulties in your case can baffle him, no dwarfing of your growth in years that are past, no apparent dryness of your inward springs of life, no crookedness or deformity in any of your past development, can in the least mar the perfect work that he will accomplish, if you will only put yourselves absolutely into his hands and let him have his own way with you.  Hannah Whitall Smith

God created each of us as a unique individual.  We are all one of a kind.  I was thinking today about what I should do with my “one of a kind-ness”.  Since God created me as the only one of me; how should I best use the gifts and talents he gave me to affect change in a fallen world?

One of the first things we need to do is to figure out what our story is.  What is our history or in other words what has made us into the person we are today?  The other thing to remember is that it is never too late to start.  Too many times I think we forget that God knows we are sinners.  It’s not a newsflash to Him.  Some of the most traumatic circumstances in our life through sin can make us the very thing God created us to be.  The second thing is some of the traumatic occurrences in our lifetime can be caused not by sin, but by our living in a fallen world.  When Adam and Eve failed; we became victims of that failure.  If I were dissecting my life and trying to figure out how to glorify God with it; what would I look at to get a good picture of where God wants me to go?

My story is mine alone.  There is not another individual on this planet who has the same one.  Someone else may have been through a similar experience but no one else experienced it exactly like you or I did.  That is what being unique means.

So you look back over your life and identify the most life changing experiences in it.  What if someone asked you to pick the top 3 most life changing experiences in your life?  What would your top three be?  My first would be cancer.  There is nothing like a traumatic event to change your perspective and get your attention.  My second would be when I was baptized again.  That was the moment I realized for the first time how much God truly loved me.  My third would be my childhood.  This one is kind of a broad statement of an experience or really multiple ones, but it is the one that shaped me into the person I am today. 

For five or so years I have been writing a devotional telling you about my life experiences and writing about how they shape my life.  You have a story to tell as well.  You have experiences just like I do that affect who you are today and they can also affect who you can become.  You are a child of God who loves you.  Take your history, whatever it is, and own it.  Then take that story and use it for God’s glory.  Treasure awaits those who use their story for His glory.  Take the broken pieces of you and turn them into good.  God is waiting to hear you tell your story to someone else.  Write it and live it.     

   

Prayer for the Day: I am a unique child of God.  You created me in Your likeness.  Every person has a story to tell.  We have all sinned and fall short of your glory, but you redeem us when we turn back to You.  I praise You for turning my sin into something good.  Thank you for giving me the words to say that may change another person’s life.  I am blessed beyond measure.  You are the King of Glory and I praise Your Holy Name.     

      

Scripture: Glory to God for His Grace

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1:12-17