Vulnerability can be hard. Will we be judged? Will people think differently of us? Will we lose some of our friends? Are we the only ones who have gone through this? So many thoughts run through our heads and keep us from telling our story. Then maybe we wonder if we even have a story. Is our story worth sharing? Are we wasting other’s precious time?
If you’re like me, maybe you feel like you story isn’t important. I became a Christian at the age of 5, attended Sunday school each week, choir every Wednesday, went to a private Christian school from kindergarten through 12th grade, and graduated from a Baptist college. So I’ve always been around Christianity and Christians, I don’t know anything else.
Whenever I would go to camp or listen to guest speakers at conferences, it seemed like everyone had a unique story. How they grew up in a broken home but now have a thriving family of their own. How they overcame addiction and are now helping others through their battles. How they were lost, but now are found. How does my story fit in? How can I relate to people?
But that’s the thing. My story is uniquely my story and my story only. My story can be relatable to plenty of people! There are other believers out there who came from a similar background as myself that are feeling the same way I am. God can use me to relate to them, just like he can use other incredible stories to relate to people that cannot relate to my own story.
So how do you share your story? It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as getting coffee with a friend and talking about life. It can be writing a blog post and sharing it on social media. It can be getting in front of your community or church and sharing your testimony. Maybe one day you will write a book or speak at a conference in front of hundreds of people. But maybe not, and that’s okay.
Grand gestures can be great, but sometimes the greatest impact can be through the most simple things. Don’t believe the lie from Satan that your story doesn’t matter. We ALL matter. Our stories ALL matter. God gave you the background and past that he did for a specific reason. Please don’t ever doubt that.
