The Storyteller
Date: July 28th, 2024
[Not For Sale]
All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, –Psalm 107:2
Liz spoke about how God wants to redeem the world through stories–and not stories of our perfect ability and performance. But rather, God wants our true-life stories of struggle, failure, and discovery of his eternal and redeeming love.
For the painting, I got an image of the beautiful alpine lake my three kids and I visited this summer, and which my oldest daughter, Isabella, now age 19, found for us. Since Isabella was young she has been a talented and authentic storyteller and because of this won a national award. (She even got us to read poetry aloud around the campfire this year!) Sitting on a boulder writing from her heart, she represents each of us when we talk to God about life’s mountain of pain. He rewards us for our authenticity by understanding us and revealing his heart: you are worth dying for. As I go back now and study the painting, I realize Jesus mirrors that very mountain of pain like the reflection on the lake…taking all our fear and shame into himself…turning brackish water clear…and coating barren rock with lichens and moss. So, the more you collaborate with God using his mysterious ‘literary device’ called grace, the more you discover that he is your story. And, finally, you realize that you are his story too [Col. 3:4, Gal. 2:20, et al].
My mom and dad were the first stories God told me of himself, and many others have followed; like Liz, who revealed to everyone today that she’s been struggling with a crisis in her life, yet remains convinced of God's goodness. Finally, Liz implored each of us to tell our authentic redemption story so all the world may eventually be freed and filled with God's life!