On Stewarding Our Stories

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how each person’s story is a gift. This resulted from discontentment with parts of my story. It often seems that other people’s stories are better (although I’m not sure by what standard), and I’ve felt disappointed that mine hasn’t measured up. In considering the folly of comparison, I realized that comparison is often rooted in lies I am quick to believe. I once heard a wise pastor say, “The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.”

I consider this often and it’s convicted me when I’ve indulged in comparison. Comparison leads to believing lies because it assumes God is holding out on me. I can easily believe that others have it better because of how healthy their marriages seem, how well they seem to be doing financially, and how easy life seems for them. It is easy to scroll social media and convince ourselves that some people really have it made. Perhaps, to some degree, they do. But, I wonder, do they have it made with things that matter?

My Story is A Gift

At times, I’m quick to assume that an abundance of money and material possessions indicates God’s favor. Perhaps, to some degree, it does. But we know that these things can also ensnare our souls as they lack eternal value (Proverbs 23:4-5, Luke 12:15). Over time, I’ve learned that people are puzzles made of many pieces and we often only see a small fraction of the full puzzle.

I suspect were we to see the full story of those we envy, we’d find ourselves quickly content with ours. We know the pain, weaknesses, and trials that have been a part of our stories so far but we often don’t see the fullness of those things in the stories of those we compare ourselves to.

However, I don’t want this to be the reason for contentment with my story. I want to be content with my story because it’s been uniquely written for me by God Himself. My story is a gift. I don’t and can’t fully know why He’s written the painful and unpleasant parts of my story. I do know that as much as I’d like to, I don’t need to know.

I am the clay, He is the potter and as such, His ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 64:8, Isaiah 55:8-9). The secret things of the Lord belong to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29). When I consider the gift of even having a role to play in His transcendent story of redemption, I’m humbled and in awe.

The painful and unpleasant parts of my story have found a small degree of redemption in that I’ve been able to comfort others with the comfort I’ve received in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Even if your story hasn’t yet found redemption this side of eternity, I hope you’ll be comforted knowing that ultimately, God is using it for His glory, and even in the darkest parts, He’s keeping His promise of conforming you to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29, Philippians 1:6). If your story has yet to culminate in redemption, take heart, redemption is coming and nothing can stop it (Romans 8:18, Revelation 21:4).

My Story is Not Your Story

My story is not your story, and your story is not my story. While our stories bear similarities, and we can use them to encourage and counsel others, we do well to proceed slowly in this. Our stories, like many in the Bible, are descriptive, not prescriptive. Our stories are often applicable but they are not authoritative.

Just because a chapter of our story looked a certain way, doesn’t mean that the chapter of another brother or sister’s story must also. It is so important regardless of where we are in our stories that we make it our aim to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). This can look many different ways and I’m increasingly grateful for the freedom we have in Christ to live our stories in ways that are unique yet equally glorifying to Him.

My Story is A Stewardship

As those who have turned from sin and placed our hope for being made right with God in Jesus alone, we aim to live every moment for His glory. We frequently fall short of this yet the way God views us doesn’t change because of Jesus. His Spirit is finishing the good work that He’s begun (Philippians 1:6), and praying for us when we don’t even know how to pray for ourselves (Romans 8:26). Knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), compels us to live lives of faith and repentance.

His grace abounds more than our sin (Romans 5:20) and even in our darkest chapters, God remains easily pleased with us because of Jesus. He knew our stories would include days of darkness before our stories were started. While those days may feel wasted and pointless, we can find great comfort in knowing they were written in His book before ours even existed (Psalm 139:16)!

The Apostle Paul’s story is one of the most radical in Scripture. Many chapters of his story found him tortured and imprisoned because of His faithfulness to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:25-28). As those chapters became increasingly painful and culminated in Paul’s death, God remained sovereign. Paul’s story has given me great hope. His contentment, even in dark and painful chapters, reveals that he truly believed the lines had fallen for him in pleasant places (Psalm 16:6). He knew that he had a beautiful inheritance (Psalm 16:6)—ultimately, Jesus. My story and circumstances are different than Paul’s but like Paul, by God’s grace, I’m slowly beginning to believe the same. I hope you are too.