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A Story That Even I Can Tell

"Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Deut. 6:7

My husband is a great storyteller.  I believe that it's one of the reasons why he's such a great preacher because whenever he utilizes a historical or comical illustration in his sermons, he tells them with such accuracy and ease.  His capacity to retell it would make you think that he was actually an eye-witness to whatever occurred in the story.

I, on the other hand, am not a good storyteller.  I never have been and doubt it's going to improve much as time goes by.  I have a feeling that whenever I begin telling a story or a joke, my husband and close friends secretly wonder if they'll ever get to hear the punch line or the conclusion of the story!  It really is that bad.

I can even try to retell a story that just tugged at my heartstrings, or a joke that had me rolling on the floor, and . . . BAM!  It falls flat on the ground!  It doesn't seem to matter how much I enjoyed hearing it told, it isn't going to have the same effect whenever it comes out of my mouth!

However, the one and only time that I can retell a decent story is whenever it is about an event or happening that I was directly involved in or was specifically about me.  I don't stumble over my words.  I don't forget pertinent details.  It's different whenever it's about me.

I have a feeling that whenever the matriarchs and patriarchs of our faith were retelling the events surrounding their victories out of Egypt and the ultimate arrival to the Promised Land that they did it with precision and great emotion.  They didn't stammer or stutter because they lived it.  They could speak confidently and enthusiastically about what God had done for them.

God instructed them (and us) to teach their children about the goodness of God.  They were told to teach them to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:4).  That is something that you can't manufacture for the sake of a good story for your children.  You either know about God's love and faithfulness or you don't.

They probably didn't stutter whenever they told their stories because they lived them.  They were real to them.
  • Do you know why I can tell my children about God's faithfulness during times of tragedy and loss?  Because I've experienced His faithfulness firsthand.
  • Do you know why I can tell my children about how God will always provide for His own?  Because I've seen His Hand of provision -- financially, emotionally, and physically.
  • Do you know why I can tell my children about God being a forgiving God?  Because I've received His forgiveness -- much forgiveness.
  • Do you know why I can tell my children about how God's love is so deep and far-reaching?  Because His love reached even me.
Scripture very clearly tells us that whenever we're retelling those stories of God's faithfulness, the point of it all is to magnify and place emphasis on God and not on what we have gained.  Look at the beautiful promise of provision that the children of Israel were going to see in their future, yet with the admonishment to not forget the Lord's role in it all:

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you -- a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant -- then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 
Deut. 6:10-12

As you go about your life on a daily basis, are you seeing ways that God is working, providing, or moving in your heart? 

Is He giving you a story to tell? 

If so, are you giving Him glory by telling it to the generations that are following you?

If He has given you a story to tell . . . TELL IT!  Whenever we share about God's faithfulness in our lives, it will make it much easier for the generations that follow us to see that the same God that loved and cared for us, will also love and care for them.

Thank Him for His ongoing faithfulness to you and pray for the opportunity and the courage to tell the story that will lift up and glorify Him.  Now that's a story that even I can tell!

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