AwakeningSample

"The Power and Glory of Story" There is a reason the Bible is filled with stories of God’s mercy at work in people’s lives, and not just commandments. God’s goodness and activity in our lives is the fuel for our obedience to him. Our work for him is always in response to his work on our behalf. Stories of God at work are the sinew and substance out of which we can build our lives of obedience to God. We can see ourselves in the stories of Samson, David, and Samuel, and we can see ourselves in the lives of great men and women of God we read about who gave their lives for missions or pastored the same church for fifty years. These kinds of stories of God’s faithfulness in the life of others inspire us and fill us with hope. Nothing will inspire us and continue to feed us as much as hearing the stories of God’s grace replayed just when we need them most. We all need an arsenal of stories of how God turned situations around, and moved just in time, so we can build our life on the reality of his purposes on earth. Psalm 111:2 calls to us this life of story collecting: “How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them” (NLT). For many years, I’ve been a story collector of God’s activity on earth. As I do this, it only increases my desire to know more. Do you regularly watch for God-at-work stories, too? Wherever you are, there are more stories to be uncovered and rediscovered. I hope you will join this journey with me of being a story collector of God at work, and allow it to build you as a follower of Jesus throughout the rest of your life.