Tell Your Stories

Josh 4:5-7
5…. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off….NIV

The children of Israel are crossing over into the Promise Land. On their way across Joshua tells them to pick up some stones and build a memorial. WHY? So that in the future when their children and grandchildren asked they could tell them the STORY of how God supernaturally parted the waters and delivered them.

STORIES, not theological treaties. STORIES, not academic knowledge. God’s work in mankind is not detached and theoretical it is deeply personal and intimate. It is the story of God moving through and in mankind that the Bible tells, not some abstract doctrine that is removed, cold and callous. It is alive, with all the ups and downs, victories and failures and real life circumstances that help make a very big and sovereign God suddenly feel very close and personal.

What are your STORIES with God? Real life stuff that He has brought you through, things He has taught you and ways He has made Himself known. Stories of victory, stories of doubt, stories of faithfulness, stories of courage. Stories of answered prayer and God’s miraculous power. Stories of God’s grace, His love, His mercy and His patience. Stories already experienced and stories you are still waiting to unfold.

I encourage you to TELL YOUR STORIES. It is your stories that your children, grandchildren, co-workers and friends need to hear. Stories bring God present, stir our faith and draw us close to Him. Stories touch our heart. Just like the stones in Joshua’s times, your STORIES also do something else…they bring God glory.

Josh 4:24
24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God." NIV

I encourage you, tell your STORIES. This is what those who do not know our awesome God need to hear!

Blessings,
Darren