“And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
It’s no secret that I love a good story.
I love to read them, and I love to write them. Nothing captivates me more than something that’s real-life, up close and personal. Throw in a great visual and it’s golden.
Stories have the power to move us and teach us. They open our hearts, expose our feelings, and help us sort through our own convictions. And good stories often help us come to terms with our fears and anxieties, moving us forward to a place of confidence and action.
The world and our pride tell us to put on a good story front, to show our best sides in front of our friends, to post our most flattering pictures on social media, to portray as much order and beauty as possible so that our stories will look and sound good; so that we will look good.
But have you noticed what stories go viral on the internet?
I’m here to tell you that it’s not always the neatly packaged life. More often than not, it’s the words and videos that are raw and real; the ones that speak of hope in hard times, love that overcomes fear, right that wins over wrong, and gratitude in the redemption of it all. You can think of one right now, can’t you?
Why is this?
I believe it’s because we’re wired to long for a redemption story.
The Bible is just that, from beginning to end, one long story that takes us through this incredible journey of mountaintops and valleys, faith and fear, waiting and longing, until hope and sacrifice and redemption finally prevail in complete victory. How glorious that the imperfection of the needy leads to gratitude for the provision of a perfect Savior.
It’s the greatest story ever told.
“I will sing praises to God’s name. I will magnify him as I give him thanks.” – Psalm 69:30
Since Jesus is the lasting source of our gratitude, it follows that if you’ve been rescued, you too have an important story to tell.
Today, let’s choose to speak words of gratitude over words of fear.
“I can’t tell my story,” you say.
It’s too messy.
Too imperfect.
Too incomplete.
Too unresolved.
Too hard.
Too [fill in the blank]…
But wait.
Remember, the best stories aren’t the perfect ones. No one can relate with those anyway. The best stories are centered on the hope and gratitude we live out in the midst of our imperfect stories because all of the glory is shifted away from us and back onto the real hero of our story: our perfect Savior.
If we actually lived out this kind of consistent, genuine gratitude in the middle of our imperfect stories, they might just go viral.
Fear can’t reign in a heart that is full of gratitude.
Let’s fight fear and elevate the name of Jesus today by telling our stories of gratitude over and over again.
At His feet,
Tell us your story of gratitude to God in the comments below!
I have many stories of gratitude but my current one is I am grateful for no shoulder, neck, and back pain accompanied by a headache. On Monday morning I was entering about a month that I was having this pain and headaches. I made the choice to get up and start singing praises to Jesus and claiming healing in His name. I am happy to tell you later that day I had NO pain. Also I’ve had no headache and no shoulder and neck pain since. It took all the strength I had to praise Him. I felt so rough but God saw me through and I thank Him and praise Him for that. All glory to Him!
Such an awesome thing to be grateful for! God is so good! Thanks for sharing!
Gratitude is helping me overcome my fears. I believe God healed me of my stomach issues and my allergies recently. He has shown me that gratitude is the way forward for a life without fear.