The Wednesday Word podcast is taking this week off. Please enjoy today’s devotional by Julie Hart, Director of Connectional Ministries.

“Remembering Your Story” by Julie Hart

Grant us, O Lord, to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving, to praise what delights you most, to value what is precious in your sight, and to reject what is evil in your eyes. Grant us true discernment to distinguish between different things. Above all, may we search out and do what is most pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer by: Thomas à Kempis

I think it pleases the Lord when we share our stories. I think sharing our stories shows gratitude to God. It shows that we recognize that our stories matter.

Just a few weeks ago, I preached on the importance of sharing our stories, and on how my faith story relies on others (such as you) sharing your faith stories with me. As members of the body of Christ, we depend on each other to both serve God, and be in a relationship with Christ. The word for this is koinonia, which basically means for followers of Christ to share with one another. Sharing our stories is biblical!

Along with our storytelling season with the podcast, next week, we will be launching a “Remembering Your Story” workshop series. I’m excited to be taking this journey with some of you. We will be doing some of the exercises from the book to help us to write our own spiritual autobiographies. Together, we will work on gathering the parts of our stories that we want (that we need!) to share.

Whether you are looking to write your story or share your story on the podcast, there are some good questions for all of us to consider. One exercise from the book asks us to draw a spiritual timeline drawing the major celebrations throughout the years above the line and the crises below the line. And then it asks us to look at the moments and discern where God was present in them.

I invite you to try this one exercise and answer some of the questions from our book:

Which of those times did you rely on God the most?

When did you feel that God was with you?
What times did you feel angry or abandoned by God?

Who were the significant people in those moments?

What were your feelings?
What were the consequences?

Where did God fit into those situations?

And then, after you have completed this small exercise, I invite you to pray about who would be blessed by the sharing of those stories.

We would love to hear your story! If you would like to share your story, we hope that you will consider being a guest on our Wednesday Word podcast. Contact Julie Hart to discuss sharing your story: Julie@DesertSpringChurch.com.

Dear Lord,

We thank you for our stories, and for those who share our stories with us. Thank you for the blessings and the lessons that our stories provide us with. Help us to share that which you have given us so that others may know of your love.

Amen.