I’m combining my 31 days post with my five-minute Friday routine today. It was one of those special occasions where I went over the five minutes. It was too good to just cut short.
Continuing on from yesterday’s post about peace-filled shoes…
What’s the best thing to do with news? Spread it, right? Death and pregnancy. Diagnosis and healing. Heroic saga and nightmare come true. Poor customer service and awesome bargains. We freely share all of these things on all platforms and soapboxes possible.
What God has done for me? **Eyes shift while crickets chirp**
Sharing our story is hard! It means being vulnerable, presuming risking that the feedback or backlash from our telling will be negative. We lack confidence to tell what God is confidently doing in our lives. But may I encourage you through Paul’s example? Because it encouraged me.
Paul refers to himself as the “chief among sinners”. Like the worst of the worse. This dude, in his old life as Saul, was extremely cruel. He sought out Jesus-followers for the pleasure of persecution and harassment. He took great satisfaction in helping to rid the world of ‘Christians’. Yet, he did all this without investigating Jesus for himself. But God didn’t give up on him!
Saul finally had a personal experience with Christ. An earth-shattering, life-altering encounter on the road to Damascus. He met Jesus, and his entire life was changed for the better. He even changed his name to Paul and began a devoted life of service to God. When he understood, accepted and believed in the complete and total forgiveness that comes from God, Paul was free to share his story. Without shame!
Paul spoke to rulers, politicians, common folk, jailers, prisoners and everyone in between. No audience was too inferior or superior for him to share his message. Sometimes, he even spoke while in chains himself, having been jailed in attempts to stop the Christian movement. He never hid his face, nor made apologies for his testimony. From jail—from jail!—he would write letters encouraging people all over to stay strong in the Lord, to keep trusting Him. Paul didn’t wait until his life was perfect, until he had ‘arrived’ in order to share his story.
The same strength God gave Paul is available to me today. His power and sovereignty has not diminished over time. Regardless of what’s chaining us down, God is still at work. Speaking and writing while in chains will remind us of God’s constant presence and encourage others too.
Our stories don’t have to be glamorous, hysterical or epic tear-jerkers. They just need to be told.
