Telling Our Stories

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our troubles,

so that we can comfort those in any trouble

with the comfort we ourselves receive from God 

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4; NIV)

Today as I woke up, the first thing that came to mind was an image of a large tree with vast branches and full foliage.  This was immediately followed by a contrasting mental picture of a stump.  Often my first thoughts in the morning are from the Holy Spirit.  They are like bread crumbs that lead me to God’s personal word to me for the day ahead. 

Laying in bed, questions flooded my mind.  Why a tree and a stump?  Was God preparing me to be pruned?  I decided to set the notion aside.  I got my coffee grabbed my ipad, and settled onto the couch.  Thinking I am going to do my daily devotion, I turned on the tv, and had to take a peak at Pinterest first!  And while I was perusing and pinning, Rick Warren was being interviewed on The View. 

As some of you may know, Rick lost a son to suicide last year. He had come on the show to talk about the devastation he had felt and how God met him in it. And as he talked about this experience and the grief that followed, he said, “In God’s garden of grace even a broken tree will bear fruit”. Whaaaat? What did he just say?  He had my full attention. He went on to say that God wants us to use those things in our lives that we are most ashamed of, those things that have caused us the most pain, to help others.  

What would this be in my life? What is it that I wish no one knew? If truth be told, there isn’t just one…bummer. But there is one that is worse than all the rest. I, like many of you, had something happen to me that I would give anything to erase from my past. What was God telling me today? That I should be willing to help others going through the same thing? 

Rick Warren was still on while my mind was racing and mentioned he honestly didn’t know how people go through a crisis like his without God’s help. I would have to agree.  God has been there for me at every turn, through every pain. In fact, without the pain, would I have even recognized I needed him?  I have wondered this often. 

I had planned to work on the blog today. My goal is not to pick and choose the content I want to share. I want to speak God’s words.  His words alone breath life into a soul that feels dead and desperate inside. Could it be that today God wants me to write about my biggest pain, the thing I am most ashamed of? Maybe it will help you? Maybe it will help your friend, your child, or someone else you know. 

Like so many others, my earliest memories are like flashes from a horror movie. For most of my life, the worst of what happened was buried from my conscience except in the form of body memory. Phantom pain, pressures and discomfort would overcome me in the middle of the night, or during random times during the day. Because of their location and the fear that accompanied them, I grew up with a knowing that something awful had happened to me. But, honestly I had no desire to explore it. As far as I was concerned it was in the past. Why dig it up?

This was my mindset until I entered my 40’s. Then other symptoms started rising to the surface that I could not push down. I was having trouble, a lot of trouble controlling my emotions at work. No matter how hard I tried, any time I disappointed people or felt criticized, the tears came so easy. It was embarrassing to say the least. No amount of will power, reading about emotional maturity, or prayer seemed to make a difference. 

I also started having nightmares and woke my husband often screaming, “Help me!” Then the flashbacks set in:  solo images would appear unexpectedly during the day and with it nausea and thoughts like, “I can’t think about that.” In addition, I was experiencing severe depression and anxiety. I could not be with my husband intimately without wishing I could die.You may find it hard to believe, but I actually went on like this for a while, before God finally convinced me I had to face my past. 

This was over 5 years ago. After several years of intense prayer counseling, a lot of tears, many hours in God’s Word, and the help of  “my sistahs” I am experiencing freedom and wholeness from the things that happened to me all those years ago.   

My journey is like so many others. God’s business is to take the broken painful things in our life and heal them by his power. He is the doctor who can put together and restore the pieces of a broken soul. And when he does, that is quite a story! That is something that worth telling others about. Maybe there is even freedom in that! What would it look like for all of us to be wiling to open up and say the words we dread the most…”this is what happened …” and then follow them with…”but God saved me by…”

-- Laurel Bahr

Chosen

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people.

Col 3:12 (CEV)

Bridal imagery is a metaphor used throughout the Bible.  It takes something unfamiliar, our spiritual relationship with Jesus, and compares it to something familiar that is easier for us to understand.  We can relate to the idea of falling in love, never wanting to be apart, committing ourselves to exclusive relationship, and spending the rest of our lives together. 

However, the scriptural bridal metaphor is even more meaningful if you know the ancient Jewish Wedding customs that existed during the time that the Bible was written.   Jesus taught, "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son.”  Jewish weddings were arranged; the father would choose his son’s bride.  The search usually began locally.  But if a suitable match was not found there, “a friend of the bridegroom” was sent to search for and select the bride elsewhere.  After locating the potential bride, he would describe the proposed groom, his family, and the potential marriage. If things went well, the friend of the bridegroom would finally ask the young lady if she was willing to become a bride.

This is symbolic of the method God uses to search for and select a bride for his Son Jesus.  He looks outside his own community (heaven) by sending “friends of the bridegroom” to find willing brides.  This explains why John the Baptist in the New Testament referred to himself as “the friend of the bridegroom.” He was using common bridal imagery to explain to people the mission God had given him. 

Moses is another example.  Moses was given the authority to search for and extend a proposal from God to his chosen bride:  the Israelites.  Insecure about his communication skills, he begged God to let Aaron, his brother, go with him and do the speaking.  God agreed.  When the two met with the Israelites (the potential bride), they described God and the potential marriage: “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.”  They repeated God’s words:  “I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you.  I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God’s proposal, if accepted, would require the Israelites to “leave and cleave”:  they would leave Egypt and Pharaoh who was holding them against their will as slaves and cleave to a God they didn’t know.  Initially, when presented with this proposal from Moses, they were reluctant to believe it was possible.  One generation after another had grown up oppressed and mistreated by their powerful captors.  They had been unable to save themselves and questioned if anyone else could do it either. 

The Israelites needed to know more about God before they wanted to make a commitment. Carrying a shepherd’s staff, Moses threw it down to the ground and it turned into a snake!  Then he grabbed its tail and it turned back into the shepherd’s staff.  “Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” They were willing to become a bride after they had witnessed God’s power.

How many Sistahs out there are like the Israelites and need to witness God’s power before accepting his proposal?  Many of us have stories of how God has done the impossible in our own lives.  When shared, God can use them to help others become a willing bride. Our Sistahs team believes this so strongly that every week on Wednesdays we post a testimony. Sharing our stories reveals God’s power, and helps others know Him better.

Mrs. Galbreath, the middle-aged Sunday school teacher I met when I was five, did that for me.  She greeted us warmly when my sister Debbie and I were dropped off at the Old White Church in our small town.  We sang songs and listened to her tell a Bible story that was illustrated on a flannel board. Told we were loved and wanted by a Father in heaven, Debbie and I both agreed to become a willing bride that day.  I didn’t know Jesus well yet, but I knew I wanted to get to know him better.

Through the years Mrs. Galbreath, a friend of the bridegroom, and I would run into each other.  Each time, the memory of the role she played in my life sparked overwhelming thankfulness.  I can’t imagine going through life without knowing Jesus, and she introduced me to Him.  She’s in heaven now.  I bet she got quite a commendation from God for her beautiful feet!

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” Rom 10:10-15; NLT

Sistah, do you want to have beautiful feet?  Share your own story about God’s power in your life. Speak it out!  Send it to us!! God wants to use it to encourage others.  In this way, you too can be “a friend of the bridegroom” and have beautiful feet.