It’s been a long time since I’ve shared the pieces of my story.
I have the desire to put my story into words… I just haven’t had the time or I don’t know where to start. Parts of my story still hurt too much. I don’t know if I’m ready to share those parts of my story either. And yet, I feel the Holy Spirit pressing me to share more because it would encourage others and build up the body of Christ. Laura Story’s When God Doesn’t Fix It challenged me to share my story. It’s worth telling my story. If nothing else, it would encourage my heart. More recently Andrew and Rachel Wilson’s book, The Life You Never Expected also convicted me—I need to put my story into words. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
I’ve written and shared many words already. Occasionally I wonder if I shared too much of my story too soon. Everything is so disjointed that I don’t know how to put them together into one cohesive story. But do we live an organised, cohesive, and perfect life?
My story is far from perfect.
It is fear that’s causing me to feel this way because these are just excuses. The truth is, I should start writing and that would be sufficient. I need help and direction. I need help overcoming the fear of writing my story. Our stories are far from perfect because sin affects the world. My imperfect story brings glory to God. So why am I afraid to share it?
A few weeks ago, a friend and I had the opportunity to see my favourite band, Over the Rhine, play in London. As it was my friend’s first introduction to Over the Rhine, I got to thinking about why I love their music so much. They have a lot of love songs, and yet I still enjoyed their music when I was single. Then I realised it’s because they’re real. The words of their songs aren’t soppy. They’re realistic. Life isn’t all glitter and roses—sometimes it’s dirt and mud. Over the Rhine dedicated one of their closing songs to all their “favourite people.” The lines, “All my favourite people are broken; Believe me, my heart should know,” rang through the air.
If we’re not broken, we don’t need the gospel. Jesus’ horrible death on the cross would be in vain. We’re broken people in need of hope and redemption. As hard as we may try, we’ll never have it all together. The Pinterest-perfect life that’s portrayed on social media is something we’ll never obtain. I don’t think there’s one of you reading this today who disagrees with our desperate need for the hope the cross gives us on our difficult days.
God weaves hope into the tapestry of our lives. Woven into the worn fabric of our broken lives is a gold, sparkly thread.
Sometimes it’s difficult to see that thread of hope for all the worn ones. But it’s there if you look hard enough. It’s there. Ask God to show you. And cling to that hope, especially in difficult days.
