Have you ever thought of the sum total of your life experiences as being a gift from God? That the journey you have walked, no matter how joyful or painful, is something God has gifted you with? And more important, that He wants you to share that gift with others?
If not, I’d like to challenge you today to make the choice to look at your life with a fresh vision. I’d like to challenge you today to make the choice to view your life as your God Story. And, I’d like to take that one step further. I’d like to challenge you today to make the choice to share your God Story with others.
As faith-filled boomer babes, we have each lived our lives through joy and pain and have come out the other side with a God Story. Our stories are as unique as we are—yet as Christians, we share a common denominator. That through it all, no matter how many hills or valleys we have traversed, God has been at work. At all times and in all ways—even when we couldn’t see or feel his presence.
I often quote my friend, Michelle McKinney Hammond, “Every test is a testimony and every mess is a ministry.” What test or mess has God brought you through? What pressure have you been through in your pain that has turned coal into a diamond?
I was blessed to speak several times last month during Mother’s Day weekend. The topic of my messages was, “God Allows U-Turns: The Choices We Make Change the Story of Our Life.” This is not only a series of books that I’ve edited and the foundation for my ministry outreach, it really is something that I live by.
I truly believe the choices we make can change our life story, and that our choices can change or have an impact on the lives and stories of others.
This past Mother’s Day, a legend in gospel music, Dottie Rambo, was tragically killed when her bus hit an embankment and crashed. A friend of mine knew this amazing singer/songwriter, and her life was impacted due to the choice Dottie Rambo made years ago to share her music and testimony—her God Story. Indirectly, my life has been impacted because of what my friend learned from Dottie. I would hazard to guess that even though Dottie is now with her Heavenly Father, that her God Story will continue to have lasting impact on countless lives. Because long ago she made the choice to share her story.
When we share our testimonies, our God stories, it’s impossible to know the long-term impact they will have. We never know who may be changed as a result of hearing our story. We never know who might make different choices in their life because we made the choice to boldly and unashamedly share how God has worked in our life.
The choices I made early in my life greatly influenced the choices that my only child made in his life. Later, after I became a Christian and began to make better choices, I began to see just how powerful my choices were. I made a choice to share my journey in learning to set boundaries with my adult son and the book I wrote as a result of that choice is helping to change lives. I felt the call on my heart to write it—yet I had no earthly idea how God would open the floodgates of heaven to bless the project. He had a plan for my life and he gave me my God Story for a purpose.
What is your God Story? What purpose has God given to you through your journey?
As Christians, our greatest call is to be lanterns to light the way for others to come to know Jesus. The Great Commission challenges us to be witnesses to what God has done, and to bring others to know God’s amazing grace, mercy, peace, and joy.
Maybe you thought you would be at a different place in life than you are now. Maybe there were things that happened to you that were out of your control, yet we can still choose how we respond. We can make choices that bring hope and healing not only to our lives, but to the lives of others as we share our God Story. God has given you the gift of your story. My prayer for you is that you will make the choice to share your journey with others. That you would open your heart to boldly proclaim how God has changed your life, and that in so doing you will bring others into the family of God.
“God can do anything you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
– Ephesians 3:20, The Message
Available now from Harvest House Publishers
Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children
Six Steps to Hope and Healing for Struggling Parents
by Allison Bottke
For more information visit: www.SanitySupport.com
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