The whole story

But God knows our story beginning to end

Acts 11:1-4 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized himand said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story.

When you are criticized or misunderstood, do you ever wish you could tell your whole story? Surely then, whatever happened would make more sense to the person who has jumped to a premature conclusion! But telling the whole story requires the other person to listen, and that’s not something easily come by, right? It requires time, and patience and attention.

Fortunately for Peter, his critics weren’t distracted by their phones or the latest news cycle. They took time to listen. Verse 18 tells us the result:

When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.

This was a major paradigm shift for them. A game changer. A huge “But God” moment. It wouldn’t have happened if they had not been willing to take time to listen, with hearts open to understand not just what Peter was doing, but what God was doing.

Have you noticed that when you tell your story, you understand it better yourself? Perspective emerges that isn’t possible when we keep our stories inside our own heads.

September 4-8 Dave and I will have the privilege of participating in a biannual retreat with the IMT (International Ministry Team), which is our formal place of connection and accountability with our mission organization, One Challenge International. Our team leader just notified us that we will each be given half an hour to tell our story, a quick overview of our life journey. What an interesting task, to choose what to include in thirty minutes from seventy years of living! Knowing my teammates, I expect we’ll be thrilled by God’s faithfulness, and our love for each other will deepen.

Perhaps you don’t have a context in which you can tell your “whole story.” But what if you start with thirty minutes? If someone were to listen to you for half an hour, what would you want them to understand about your life? What stands out to you? What particular incident illustrates what God has done for you and through you?

Perhaps in thinking about this, you’ll realize you would like to share a particular But God moment with those who read this blog. If so, please let me know. If the challenge of writing it down is what’s stopping you, call or text me or email me, and we can plan a time to do it together. I’m confident that when you do this, you will encourage both yourself and other people. And you will give glory to God.

Take My Life by Frances R. Havergal, sung by Chris Tomlin