Greetings to you in the beautiful, wonderful, and powerful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! Wow! what a typical April day to finish the month – ‘showers’ …remember the old ditty – April showers bring Mayflowers and Mayflowers bring pilgrims! I know, I know…but I heard it somewhere. Nevertheless, it is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! … because God pays attention to our praise and thanksgiving! Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to release the Holy Spirit into your circumstances and into your body-mind-spirit.
This morning, through a series of ‘God-incidents’, I found myself reading a Facebook message that went like this – How is your day going? Are you still keeping track of what “day” this is in your ‘stay-in’ day? Do you feel like you are losing your mind? Although this virus has physical manifestations, you must take care of your emotional and mental well-being. What are you doing to keep yourself encouraged? What is your story? Now, the interesting aspect of this is that God gave me a ‘word’ in my devotions that at the time did not seem to make sense. The word God gave me was – “story” and is has found its way into my thoughts in various ways.
First, I received a ministry e-mail about a spiritual retreat that is based on the premise that … “‘story’ is how we make sense of the world around us, the very fabric of our lives. Every person has 6-8 specific stories that have shaped the trajectory of our faith, beliefs, and hopes.”
Second, a recently released new song has the line in it … Story, I could’ve had a really different story-But You came down from heaven to restore me-Forever saved my life … Nobody loved me like You love me Jesus – Chris Tomlin.
Third, I found myself thinking of that old hymn that says…Tell me the stories of Jesus. It seems to me that so much of what we know and understand of the love, beauty, and character of God is revealed in ‘story’. Story is how we understand our world, other cultures, and our personal journey. I am thinking that when we get together again on a Sunday, much of our worship needs to be devoted to sharing our journey since we last gathered – our story.
Finally, God’s Word says – You saw who You created me to be before I became me! Before I’d even seen the light of day, the number of my days you planned for me were already recorded in your book. – Psalm 139:16 TPT. Imagine, God has a storybook that is all about you and me.
What are you doing to encourage yourself?…what is in the chapter of your book today that you will want to share with someone?… just a little something to think about — be blessed!