God stories

We have a staff tradition that I think is genius.  Many moons ago, Dan (our lead pastor) started asking people to share their God-stories–places where we see God at work in our lives, and in our ministry.  It’s been a great source of encouragement over the years.  Even on those days when it’s hard to see what God is doing, hard to hear what God is saying, we have the opportunity to draw encouragement from the stories that others share.  I like the idea so much that I started doing the same thing with the folks who work with our high school and middle school students.

I believe that even when things are rough and rocky, when the days are long, the nights are short, and the way is full of obstacles, we should have stories to share.  They don’t always have to be “Yay God!” stories.  They might be tales of failure, lessons learned through loss, dark night of the soul kinds of stories.  God stories aren’t aren’t always bright and sunny.  There are times when we share stories that are filled with hurt, pain, and difficulty.  But they’re always laced with a God-sized amount of hope.  Because no story is ever over until we’re done living.

I have a great story to share, probably tomorrow.  I have to check in with a couple of people to get their permission to share the tale, but it’ll be worth hearing, I promise!

In the meantime, where are you seeing God move in your heart and life?  What is God teaching you?  What’s your God story?