By quoting Paul’s letter to Timothy from the New Testament, Annie F. Downs reminds us today that we were made for holy work. When we think of holy work, we might start to imagine all kinds of complex tasks but today’s devotional shows us that sharing our ‘God stories’ can be life-changing to those who hear them.
Following the author’s challenge, I think back on my day. Nothing I’ve done today is newsworthy or notable, but I have had to keep going. I’ve had a long list of tasks to do, every single one reminding me that I am leaving the city I’ve called home for nearly six years and the friends I love. I didn’t get to not show up; I had to keep going. Task after task. Goodbye after goodbye. I wanted to hide and avoid people; packing suitcases, while sorrowful, would at least have meant I didn’t have to look into faces and keep being brave.
So, where have I seen God show up? While I was walking to meet friends for coffee and I felt the tears roll unbidden down my cheeks, I felt a quiet reassurance inside that I was loved. While I randomly shuffled my playlist on the way to a meeting, the first song was one that reminded me God is with us in every season. Being pursued by friends reminded me that God oftentimes loves us through others.
So many reminders that God was with me in this place. And so much assurance that He will be with me in the next.
Today I can share the story of God showing up with you. One day I will be able to share the story with someone else. And maybe that person will believe that if God can show up in my life, He wants to show up in theirs.
Day 2 was right on time and exactly what I needed as pieces of my story came to life in my hometown bowling alley and I was reminded of how God has shown up then and right in that unexpected moment.
One of the best parts of being in ministry the last 10 yrs is having the privilege to watch God restore lives and revive situations that seem hopeless. Yet, most of the time I forget that this truth also includes me.
Being in a relationship with Jesus means that no matter what our situation (past and present), it is not the end of the road for us ~ there are interchanges, detours, new destinations and vistas that we previously didn’t think possible or deserving.
Being in relationship with others ultimately means allowing love to be seen through our lives in a way that is equally unexpected and sometimes uncomfortable.
Sharing the what, the when and the how of why you are what you are now in the moment creates a new vantage point, a pathway for whomever is on the receiving end of the conversation as well as serves as a timely reminder to our own hearts that we do not belong in the boxes that we put ourselves in. We are not the labels we are given by others.
This is how God showed up for me over the last 24 hrs.
Reminding me that our lives, our stories are so much more than one dimensional but in order to experience the fullness of what He has in store we must engage our story’s with others in mind; knowing that He is able to turn our ashes into beauty (Isaiah 61:3) because dust is one of His primary creative ingredients (Gen 2:7)
Your story, my story can play a part of revealing a new vantage point, a new perspective for someone else to discover what true love actually looks like.
It’s by this love that we will know how much we are valued, wanted, seen and known ~ even in a bowling alley.
I love that.
“Dust is one of his primary creative ingredients.” That line of thought – beauty from ashes – used as creative material is poetic and beautifully written. Really captured me. Thanks for sharing that. I’m gonna tuck that one away – seems like it needs to be in a sermon.
I’ve been so taken today with the idea that sharing God’s story through our own is a holy task. That literally living and telling my story is a moment of divine purpose. Pushes me to stop being so reticent when those moments come.
Chrissy-I was going back through reading these posts and I recalled seeing a devotional by Lysa Terkeurst and she broke down the dust concept quite a bit. I’d be glad to forward you the email if you can provide your address.
I think I know the one you mean… she explores it in her book ‘it’s not supposed to be this way’ too. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s so good!
Yes! That’s the one
I like what you say about vantage points. Seems to me that the actual process of sharing our story has the potential to change our perspective as much as the listener’s
I’m lying her in bed on sleep in Saturday next to my sleeping husband. I need to be his biggest support and loudest cheerleader right now. God threw us into a situation that we are still trying to recover from. I find myself not able to share about Him when I’m in a state of panic and questions. When I hear someone say, This is my truth, what is yours”, it’s almost as debilitating to a conversation as, “God told me to do this.” It’s a conversation stopper! It immediately turns me off to that person. The very meaning of Truth is that it is singular. I don’t affect Truth, Truth doesn’t change. The fact that God doesn’t change should be a comfort, but we put feelings in the way of His Truth and we want the what if’s and the gray areas so we don’t have to do the hard work or make the big decisions. We live in a world of deflection, who can I blame? Today is about restoration, it’s daunting because it will take more than just today and we have to share our struggles with people who don’t know The Truth who feel the need to correct us. I know I serve God, the only One. I just wish I could literally hold his hand and say “Father, just lay it out for me today.”
I too find sharing about God harder when I have lots of questions or I’m feeling a bit confused. For me, I think I feel I need to have it all figured out before I share anything. But, I’m learning to share some of the unanswered parts of my story, to share some of the parts where my feelings trip me up. I have found that being honest about the gaps often makes bridges from my faith to theirs. I find that when I talk to someone who only has absolutes and “one right way” I get discouraged, especially when what’s happened to them doesn’t fit me. Praying for you and your family, Tara! Love Tifainé
Courage is taking that first step! God has really reminded me of his awesomeness and his promise this week. When I moved back to the US last year, I started the process of being a foster parent so that I could adopt. I did all of the classes and background checks but the rest of laden with so much red tape that the process stalled so much and I began to question why. A friend sent me a text earlier this week to pray about a situation her family was going through, and I simply replied with ” I am here”. I had no idea that by sending that text, that God would show that the reason for all of the red was for a greater purpose. I am so excited about what is to come and to see what God has in store, simply because I was willing to reply.
It reminds me of a song that my kindergarten students use to love called “1000 Steps”, “1000 steps start with one, we need to learn to walk before we run”. We have to remember that some times we need to slow down and take one step at a time because we don’t know all of the answers. The road won’t be easy, and there will be hills to climb, but if we take it one step at a time, you will be surprised at just how amazing our God is.
I’m so thrilled that your willingness to respond kindly to your friend actually impacted you even more! That’s so amazing! We sure don’t know all steps (100, 1000 or 10000!) but we, thankfully, we only need to do one at a time! Thanks for the reminder 🙂 Love Tifainé
I’ve gone through parts of the book 2x before. In the questions section, Annie asked to think back over the day and see where God has been working. I don’t feel like I have a specific example for today, but I’d journaled some other times before and it was neat to read them again and recall the memory.
Hi Sarah, glad you were able to be encouraged by ways you’d seen God work in you life before. I’m so glad you wrote them down and kept that journal! Love Tifainé
Day 2 for me was a struggle like almost every day. It takes courage to talk about my mental health issues. It takes more courage to talk to my children about it. When I should be their rock, their guide, their provider and their safety.
Looking back on the day, it was a massive “trigger” day for me. Into London to view a flat for my daughter for her second year study in September. My son came along too. My mind was telling me “scary London”, “daughter being wrenched from my side for another year”, “son being dragged away from his PlayStation for another day focusing on his sister”, “ too many people around me”, “expensive day and expensive year”, “how you gonna cope with that” ….
Fast forward 8 hours.
God stepped in: “how wonderful that your daughter is doing so well “, “how wonderful to spend time with your children” “how wonderful to spend time alone with your son when your daughter met her new flat mates”, “how wonderful that you have raised your daughter to show compassion and generosity to the desperate homeless woman in dire need of sanitary products”
See? My courage to overcome the darkness today allowed me to accomplish today’s tasks and see the light. And tell you. My family is so important. As is my Father.
I’m so pleased that you got to see the positives from all the things you did today. Your courage to show up for your family is incredible. Love Tifainé
I’ve just been taken in today by the idea of story telling being a holy task. One of the best and hardest things I do is lead a team doing pub church on an estate with lots of council housing. The social problems and struggles of people in this community are big and I often fear rejection of anything “god-related”. We spend lots of time getting to know people at the pub, the community center and the local high school all on the estate. I love the people here and have some friendships. But today I’m sorting through what it means to take on the holy task of telling Gods story in these spaces. What does Gods story look like on this estate? Where can his story break through? Where is there space for light to push back the darkness? What is the best way to help people who so desperately need rescue but who are so adamantly against it?
Tomorrow night we will have pub church. I won’t preach. I won’t sit them down for a church service as such. But we’ll drink a beer. Have a chat. And sing some songs. And for an hour I’m praying Gods story seeps into the corners of those rooms and begins pulling back the layers on our hearts.
Maybe we don’t ever know which parts of our story will resonsate with someone else? Maybe that’s why we have to just do it anyway? Maybe the story we share won’t immediate impact them but will be something they remember later? Maybe just showing up and loving them and being our Christ-filled selves becomes something they one day look back on as a God-was-actually-present moment for them? It’s brave to keep going when you fear rejection or when you don’t see the change we want to see. Praying with you for all those people you’re loving, Chrissy! Love Tifainé
I guess I could say that God has been showing up by giving me the will, energy, and focus to accomplish my end of the school year items. So much is going on, and I’m actually getting a lot done. I’m not running away in anxiety and stress like I normally do.
I love that God has showed up this way for you. Him meeting us and strengthening us in “the ordinary” things I think is a great story to share—for me, most of my life is ordinary 😉 Love Tifainé
I’ve never looked at sharing my story as “holy work”, but boy is that so true. We never know the impact of our stories on others, for me its easy to think of others sharing their stories because they made an impact on me or they taught me something. But I struggle to share my own, the whispers of, “who are you”, “you don’t know enough yet” or “that doesn’t sound well put together yet, when I clearly articulate what I”m trying to share, I will”. But as Tif mentioned already, we don’t know the impact our story could have or even who’s meant to hear it. If we’re unwilling to share our stories waiting for it to be perfectly put together then we could be missing the exact person we’re meant to be sharing it for. If I look at it, focusing on the other person instead of me, that makes it easier, perhaps I need to reframe my thinking.
I love what you wrote “reframe my thinking” because it changes our focus. We may feel afraid at first but we can remember why it’s important to share, and hopefully get better at it with time!
For me, I’ve recently had a friend ask me “would you be willing to share your story?” to which I drew in a large breath and felt absolutely terrified! Less than a week later I got asked the same question but by my pastor. I’m still thinking it over but am being inspired by the stories on here.
‘We can be brave because we were meant to be brave’. I read the bible verses for day 2 but I always read before & after the main scripture to get the context and in 2 Tim 1:7 ‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and of self-discipline. My bible has notes from Selwyn Hughes and he writes ‘If you want to live abundantly then you must make up your mind that you will not allow fear to turn you from a creative and contributing person into a defeated and disconsolate one.
Thanks for pointing about the context of the verse—we can be brave because of the Spirit living in us, not in our own strength through our “will” (although we certainly have to choose whether we do or not!)
Were you able to share your story even though you were afraid? I’d love to know what happened next.
I think one of the reasons our stories are important is because it helps other feel they aren’t alone. But it certainly can be terrifying sharing! Love Tifainé