PSALM 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I. Love. This. Verse.
If you know me, you know I am a story-teller. If you know me well, you also know my stories tend to run on the longer side, and for that I offer my apologies and gratitude to everyone who has the patience to listen to my never-ending rambles. I love a good story. I believe stories have the power to communicate so much. But I also believe that great life-change can happen through stories, and through sharing stories, which is why I have recently become very open to the idea of sharing mine.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I had a horrible experience on the first day of class this year. So I did what just about any girl would do—I walked into my friend’s dorm room, sat down on her couch, picked up her pillow and started venting about my day. About halfway through I realized all I had been doing was explaining the situation, which was far from telling the actual story—the actual story was my emotions and how the situation made me feel. So I stopped myself. And I looked up at my friend and said, “I believe in transparent conversations, and when you ask me how I am today I want to be able to tell you when I’m not fine.” And then I proceeded to tell her what the story was actually about—a professor who put me on the spot and how it made me feel so inadequate, an issue this professor had no idea I had been battling all summer. Little could I have known that my friend also struggles with feelings of inadequacy and really needed to talk about that as well, and by my desire for transparency and realness in conversation we got to talk about that and learn through my experience Together. Talk about perfect timing.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I love stories. I believe in the power of stories. I also believe that where you are in your Life story is sometimes perfectly aligned with where someone else needs you to be for Their life story. I also like to call this placement. I have a dear friend who was placed into my life at a really special part of her story, and at a really low part of mine. I was desperate for a solid spiritual friendship, and she was looking for the same, but neither of us knew that about the other. Our friendship was meant to be, and it was God-ordained. Since that day, moments in our lives have been so aligned it almost doesn’t seem real (especially to our friends, it is kind of funny sometimes how synchronized we are). We have gotten to walk through so many seasons together because our stories were aligned by God and were meant to overlap. Looking back, I honestly don’t know how I made it this far without her. Talk about perfect placement.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I believe sometimes you experience things along Your story just to benefit someone else in Their story. There have been many times where I have looked up and realized that what I have learned has helped me for sure but honestly has helped someone else even more. Take my blogs, for instance. I have long struggled with whether or not to post these thoughts that I have. I used to just write them down and show them to a few people close to me, because they really weren’t meant to be publicized and I didn’t write them with the intention of “teaching others” or anything like that. But over time I had people I trusted and admired encouraging me to start posting them, because they said that people might benefit from reading my thoughts and that sometimes you can’t keep things like this to yourself. So I took a risk and began to essentially make my private thoughts public. It’s been my hope ever since that whoever needs to read my thoughts will find their way to them. But I can tell you this: ever since I have been posting my thoughts, there have been times where I wasn’t sure I was going to post something I had written, but something inside of me told me to post it anyway, and so I did with the hope that it would benefit someone else more than it benefited me. The amount of times someone has come to me and remarked that something I said was “exactly what they needed to hear” has been humbling to me, and for that I am Sure that I experience things sometimes in my story Solely for the chance to benefit someone else in their story.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I also believe you experience some things in life so that you can have a Story to tell. If I learned anything from this summer, it’s that we all have a story to tell unique to us. People tell me all the time that their stories aren’t “special enough” to share, or that they’ve “messed up” too many times to have a story worthy of sharing, or that their stories aren’t “life-changing” enough. Let me just tell you, I’m not having any of that. I firmly believe that God has gifted—yes I mean that word, chose it carefully—GIFTED each one of us with incredibly unique stories from our lives. If we can look back and see that He is faithful, why Wouldn’t we want to share those stories with everyone we meet?! We should be working every day to look for new ways to share our stories—that’s how excited we should be about the unique story God has given us. Because with our story comes a platform given only to us, and one way to steward that platform well is by sharing our Story.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
I believe we all tell our stories in different ways. Some people are gifted public speakers. These were the people who always volunteered to give their testimony at youth and things like that. (Yeah, not me.) Other people are skilled in one-on-one conversations and offer good counsel / are willing to share in a more private setting. One way I communicate my story differently than many people is through music. I have the opportunity to lead worship in so many different avenues, but the main one this year is through Campus Worship at Samford. Every week I will be up in front of my peers guiding them through a worship experience, and I will have the opportunity through song choices and specific wording in between songs and the way that I pray over them to tell my story in a way and a platform unique to me. And that is something I do not take lightly!
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
Someone I look up to taught me this summer that to be a leader, all you have to do is be one step ahead of the people you are leading. I like to think this applies to our stories as well. Regardless of how “good” or “life-changing” or “special” you think your story is, your stories can help people that are where you were when your story started. If you just got out of a hard time, you can help someone entering a hard time with your story. If you just got out of a waiting season, you can help someone entering their own waiting season. If you recently lost a job, you can help someone who is on the verge of losing theirs. I’m sure you see where this is going. You don’t have to be 30 steps ahead, or have it “all figured out.” All it takes is being one step ahead, and being willing to share your experiences.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
When you are finally ready and willing to share your story, someone will walk into your life who needs to hear what you have to say. Of this I am certain. There are pieces of my life I was not always comfortable talking about, but at the beginning of this summer God really challenged me to let go of those fears I had about those parts of my story. Not long after, I met someone who had a very similar experience with anxiety, and we began to have a conversation that lasted the length of the summer about how anxiety still affects us today even though our main battles with it are over. It made me realize that even though there are parts of my story that are finished helping me, they can still help someone else if I am willing to be open and share my story with whomever God presents to me.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
My prayer for you today is that you would know you have a story to tell, and that you would not be afraid to tell it. I pray that once you are confident in your story and willing to share it that God would bring someone into your life who needs to hear what you have to say, and that your story would bring impact far and wide for the Kingdom, for I truly believe that is the power of stories. I know I can confidently speak this over everyone reading that if you look back you will realize God has been faithful in your life, and that alone is worthy of being shouted to the heavens. There’s a freedom that comes with telling your story, and it is well worth the price you pay in the process of writing that story.
…
song of the moment: Place of Freedom, Highlands Worship
There’s a calm that covers me
When I kneel down at Your feet
It’s a place of healing
It’s a place where I find freedom
There’s a place my eyes can’t see
Where my spirit longs to be
It’s a place of healing
It’s a place I live in freedom
I’m gonna lift my hands
Till I can reach heaven
I’m gonna shout Your name
Till the walls come falling down
I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to worship
There’s a Love that lives in me
For You Lord my Savior King
Breaks the sin that’s binding
Leads me to a place of freedom
I’m gonna lift my hands
Till I can reach heaven
I’m gonna shout Your name
Till the walls come falling down
I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to worship
I’m gonna sing my song
Like I am unashamed
I’m gonna shout for joy
At the mention of Your name
I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to worship
There’s no one that can bring me peace
That can wash me clean
Like You Lord
There’s nothing in this world that can free me
You save my soul!
I’m gonna lift my hands
Till I can reach heaven
I’m gonna shout Your name
Till the walls come falling down
I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to worship
I’m gonna sing my song
Like I am unashamed
I’m gonna shout for joy
At the mention of Your name
I’ve come to worship
I’ve come to worship
Let us all sing our songs and shout our stories until the walls we have put up in our own minds and in our own hearts come crashing down and we can all be united as one body of Christ in one giant story that God is writing for us all.
…
xoxox, meg
meaganleighkennedy 