It’s Your Story
I heard this analogy recently and absolutely loved it. “Like a fine gold chain that’s gotten tangled, you may have some things to untangle, but they don’t diminish your value. You’re still pure gold, tangled or not.” I love the relationship I see with this concept and Job 23:10 where it says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”
Job 23:10But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
I know it’s easy to look at our own stories and diminish the value of them, maybe even diminish the realness of them. We look around us and maybe we see harder stories and discredit our own, or maybe we see beautiful stories and feel ashamed so we try to hide our stories. But whatever your story is, it’s your story. No one else will have a story just like you, and I believe there is gold to be found in your story and in your life. So maybe it’s time for you and I to stop comparing our stories and start uncovering the gold God has put into our stories. Maybe it’s time to stop hiding our stories and start telling about God’s grace and His goodness.
I’m not one that believes “everything for a reason”. I’ve seen too much, experienced too much, and honestly, that just feels too general for me. From the moment sin entered the world, bad things have happened to “good” people. I don’t believe you can explain away every difficult situation or chapter of life. Each person has a free will or gets to make a choice in how he or she will deal with the circumstances they find themselves in. What I do believe, however, is that God can take a painful chapter or chapters of life and create a beautiful impact and outreach from that pain if we will give Him the opportunity.
I know there are so many layers to our stories and so many interacting pieces. I know there are pieces people will misunderstand. I know it won’t be accepted by everyone. I know there is pain present in our stories. I know there might be some shame for not having a “perfect” story, but who really does. If we were all being honest, we all have something we’d rather not have as part of our story. But, I believe that is where the beauty is, in knowing that we are not alone, in knowing that there is someone out there that understands that twinge of pain when you’re in the middle of a room full of people, but feel so incredibly alone. I see you. Your story is still gold.
I want to call you out in the best possible way to encourage you to walk into the purpose God has uniquely designed for you. I want you to walk confidently knowing that you are called for His purpose and His design. I want you to walk confidently in who you are as a child of God. Confident in your calling. Confident in your purpose. Confident in your God. Because He did not make a mistake on you. Because He keeps His promises. Because He has called you and He has destined you to far greater things than comparison. I pray that you and I discover the gold in our own unique stories. I pray that we won’t get so caught up in trying to be like someone else that we deny ourselves the opportunity to live out our own story.
So I want to challenge us, you and me, to stop comparing our stories to the people that surround us, in real life and on the internet. They will never be the same. We don’t have the same calling. We don’t have the same purpose. I want to challenge us to share our story in circles that feel safe and have proven trustworthy, simply to let others know they are not alone, to encourage the people around us, and to tell of God’s goodness and faithfulness.
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good God is.
Psalm 24:8 The Message
Blessed are you who run to him.
Stay tuned. I’ve got a story for you next week!
-xo
Photography by: @repurposed_photography
