One day, a woman I didn’t know shared with me her story of trauma, loss, and betrayal.  As tears flowed, I watched healing happen, as for the very first time, she shared her story outside her protective circle.

And I was moved by her openness and her courage.

Just as she had a story to tell, so do you.

We are all made of stories. 

Tales of paths walked, lessons learned, sorrows navigated, joys found, hardships overcome, dreams fulfilled. 

And when we tell our stories, God is able to use us in powerful ways.

Sometimes the telling is meant for us – to build our own faith and bring us healing. 

But often the telling is meant for others.

Friend, God wants to use your story.  Even the messy, unfinished parts. 

And likely, he is lining up another soul who is ready to hear it. 

♥ Because someone else out there is walking the trenches you’ve walked, and they need to know they’re not alone. 

♥ And if you’ve managed to find your way out of the trenches, they need to know that is possible.

All that is required of you is an open and willing heart, and a desire to serve God by sharing yourself with others. 

God will direct you on how to do the rest.

And when – in his perfect timing.

But listen… we have an adversary who loves to tell us that God could never use our stories. 

That they are too messy, or too shameful. 

Or he may tell us that they aren’t powerful enough to make any difference at all. 

He wants you to keep your stories to yourself so your wisdom and experience will never be used to help anyone.

And so he can bottle you up with untold grief.

But every negative thing the enemy whispers to us is a lie.

Do you know what I say to the enemy when he starts coming at me with words like that?

Devil, shut your mouth.  I belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in me, and my story MATTERS.

Those might sound like fighting words, because they are.  

God CAN use your story.  Even the ugliest parts.

Thumbs down to the myth that we need to put on our pretty makeup faces and have it all together. 

God isn’t looking for us to be Barbie believers whose stories are perfectly pink. 

Because in truth, nobody is really like that.

He needs honest, real people with honest, real stories.

♥ God is looking for those who have walked the hard mile – both those who have overcome their hardships, and those who are still in it.  

♥ He’s looking for the ones with hard-earned wisdom, who can speak from experience, and for those who are still figuring it out.

He’s looking for YOU.  Wherever you are in your journey.

Because each of us has stories to tell that when spoken to a God-directed audience of even one, can change hearts, bring hope, and usher in healing.

But what about the parts of your story you wish you could eliminate?

Some of us have pages in our stories we would love to rip out.  Chapters we’d love to send to the shredder.

At one point I felt this way too.

Until the day I read something that changed my thinking.

I found freedom in these words.

Penned by Sharon Jaynes in her book, When You Don’t Like Your Story: What If Your Worst Chapters Could Become Your Greatest Victories? I read:

I think we’ve all looked at our lives and wanted to rip a few pages from the narrative. But it’s difficult to understand a story if there are missing chapters. Each chapter helps explain why characters are the way they are—why you and I are the way we are. We can’t tear out a page or skip a chapter and still make sense of our story. But we can learn to embrace the story we were given and to trust God to keep writing our story into his.

Thanks to her book, I no longer hold to this thinking. 

Now I am able to thank God for the whole of my story. 

For what he has done in me through it, and for how he plans to use me because of it.

And when tempted to think any other way, I cling firm to the truth of Romans 8:28 –

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

I know that if I trust God with my story, he will use every facet of it for my eventual good. 

And he will do the same for you.

Friends, we serve a Master Carpenter who is in the restoration business. 

He wants to restore you.

And he wants to use you to restore others. 

And if you are willing, you might very well be his next tool of choice as he uses your story to chisel new life into another being.

So today, hush the enemy’s lies.

Cling to the Father’s promises.

And when he prompts you, share your story.

Let our good God take your broken and turn it into something beautiful.

Because God CAN use your story.

And if you let him, he will.