...by Bobby Jackson
What makes you hold your breath?
This week our church took a risk (Greg and Andy in particular). We decided to face forward toward our pasts, and take a look at more than just the nostalgic. Midway through the teaching time, we asked people to text in key experiences in their past whether they be good, bad or ugly (worse than badJ) with the idea that we would look through the mist of our story and see possibilities of how God might view it.
What resulted was a breath-holding time for our congregation. Texts like: my best friend died in a car accident, I have guilt from premarital sex, my father is a drunk, I lost my job, my cousin was killed in Iraq, I am cheating with someone of the same sex, I am judgmental, and I have attempted suicide, made our church hold its breath in anticipation of an answer. How could God possibly use my story to serve others? Without a trite, surface answer, Greg and Andy presented ideas regarding how God might use those instances in our past. Greg encouraged us to look at our story thus far as being preparation. Can we use events, good and bad, combined with our gifts and passions, to help others? Could it be that God is able to position you and me to use the good, bad and ugly of our pasts to help ourselves and others?
I’m still holding my breath on a few of the items in my past, but I’m resolved that God would like to turn my story into my testimony. How about you?
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