Sharing Stories


"This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you,'" Matthew 11:10

This morning I was looking for some inspiration for today's post, and since nothing was pressed on my heart I looked to the date and googled Bible 11:10.  

The first 11:10 that came up was from Luke,  It is a good verse and one I've listed here before.  But the one above was from Matthew as Jesus was talking to people about John the Baptist - the prophet who came before Him to make people aware of His coming.

...that struck a chord.

Is there someone in YOUR life who told you about Jesus?  A sort of John the Baptist who announced the "good news" and helped to set you on a path of joy, peace and everlasting life?

If so - thank them!  For it is the people in our lives whose personal stories of redemption and healing that touch our hearts and help us recognize Jesus.

For me, it was my husband Jim.  

Long before he and I were married, I was in a pretty dark place.  Though I had a good job, a nice house, money in the bank, and a husband, I felt unseen, unappreciated, and unloved.  I had skeletons in my closet - things I wasn't proud of, and regret and remorse ate away at me.  And although I had been attending church, the weekly homilies did not satisfy my soul.  I knew I needed something more.

In a conversation with Jim I told him that I felt very far from God and I didn't know how to make my way back.  He suggested that I begin by reading the Gospels and he even gave me a study Bible of my own.  He said that if my church's homilies weren't teaching me, that maybe I needed a different church...

Jim told me that he too had once been in a dark place.  He was bankrupt, fighting a legal battle for his firm, and lamenting a damaged lawn mower and a torn Achilles tendon when his friend Eddy told him he needed to turn to God.  

Jim replied that he HAD...but his friend insisted, "No, not yet.  Not fully."

Jim says that when he finally humbled himself and cried out to God, acknowledging his failure in trying to control his own life, and begging that God come and take the reins, a wholly supernatural peace came over him and he KNEW he was finally on the right path.

Friends, there are people in our lives who need to hear from US.  They need us to share our stories.  They need us to encourage them in the way that Jim's friend Eddy encouraged him, or how Jim encouraged me.

When we do this - we are not only sharing stories, we are sharing LIFE!

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." - Mark 16:15






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