Tell Your Story

            You have a story God wants you to tell.  Something in it can change a life because God gave you your own personal story to make a difference in someone else’s story. No matter how dysfunctional, traumatic or bizarre our stories are, we shouldn’t be afraid to tell them because by sharing them, we can heal and bring healing to another because they will know they are not alone.

            On Thursday, I presented my own personal story, from start to finish, to the Christian Women’s Small Business Association (CWSBA) in San Antonio. I’d never really done that because I always hesitated to share the part about my mentally ill mother. I thought people would judge me and wonder if I would be like her. It was also a stretch of my life I spent 17 years running from until God called me back to honor my mother. Those years with my mother were a part of my story that I stored away deep in my life closet. Do you have a section of your life like that?  If so, that’s probably the part of your story that would be the most powerful.

            So I gave my story in San Antonio where I was born and raised and spent twelve years on television .  I figured my testimony would make more of a difference in people’s lives because they knew me from the years I was a sportscaster.

            However, I realized while talking to the women afterwards, that God used my story to speak to many women but it wasn’t because they knew me.  Most of them had moved to San Antonio recently and were not living there when I was on television.   God showed me my story could be told anywhere, not just my home town, because my theme was not about television but was really about triumphing over the dysfunction in my life through the power of Christ by surrendering everything to him.

            God also made it clear I’m not the only one with a story.  One by one, the women began to tell me about their lives after the message was over. Their stories also need to be told.  The problem is it is sometimes too painful to share. God often tell us when the time is right to give our testimonies.

            How did God teach us about his love and his son, Jesus?  Through stories in the Bible. Many of the stories include the conversion accounts of average people like you and me.  It also includes their shortcomings so we can realize we don’t have to be perfect to follow Christ.  We just have to be willing. We will all make mistakes.

            My Pearls of Promise mission statement used to be: For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard taken from Acts 4:20.  When the Sanhedrin commanded Peter and John to not speak or teach in the name of Jesus, this was their response. I still feel this way. My story points to Jesus and now, I’ve received the boldness of God to tell it. I cannot stop talking about it.

            What about you? Do you need to share your story? Pray for opportunities to speak about it because there’s no better teacher than your life.