There is nothing I love more than hearing a good "God-story". Just yesterday a dear friend messaged me with an update regarding her cousin's husband for whom I've been praying. "No mass on the liver. Other spots on the CT scan are benign. Thank You God!!! This is a great cloud now lifted." I cried as I offered praise to the Lord, overwhelmed by His wonderful goodness!
How quickly do we share all that God does for us? We need to be declaring His goodness and singing with joy as we lift our praise to the Lord. Do you know that Psalm 145 is the only Psalm actually designated as a "Psalm of Praise"? Although other Psalms definitely include similar themes, this one alone captures the daily joy that should overflow from God's covenant people.
"Let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power." (Ps 145:4). This is one of the benefits of our faithful sharing. Our children, and our children's children will hear about the goodness of God and in turn share their God stories.
I'll always remember a Skype conversation with my son during one of his university years. With only a few minutes' drive, but a good hour walk back to campus, the bus he was riding in, completely filled with students coming home from church, suddenly rolled to a stop. The driver had no idea what had happened. The vehicle was in good working order, or should have been. Checking under the hood, while the students hurried out to help push the stalled menace to the side of the road, the driver saw no apparent mechanical reason for the engine to stop.
With it being a Sunday, service would take a while. Several students immediately began walking back to the university, while others joined together, praying for the bus to start up again. After all, God could miraculously have the engine running the next time the driver turned the key. Instead, the Lord showed these students His care and provision in a different way.
After only about five minutes another school bus rolled along, and it was empty! An empty school bus, on a Sunday, driving down a residential road! Only the Lord could have inspired this other driver to come down this exact street at this exact time, minutes after a need had arisen.
The driver slowed her bus down and inquired, "Do you need help? Where are you going? Can I drive you?" Instead of ignoring the situation before her, she went out of her way to take a bus full of university students back to campus, and in the process they saw a God who hears and answers prayer. These young people were experiencing God, giving life to Psalm 50:15, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."
I still recall my son's voice. With great enthusiasm and delight he shared this God-story, admittedly tinged with a hint of pleasure as he spoke of riding by and waving to those walking who had given up on God's provision too soon. In her mercy, the bus driver pulled over and stopped, letting these students experience God's care too. Even when we don't wait for the Lord in some of the choices we make, He extends grace to the undeserving.
A God-story is simply sharing how we see God working. There is no such thing as a small God-story because the Author is the Lord. In His goodness, our Heavenly Father blesses us with personal encounters that strengthen our faith, grow our trust and deepen our walk with Him. Nothing that touches our life is a coincidence. As witnesses of God's activity our testimony doesn't stop with a prayer of salvation, but from revelation to revelation our sharing of His goodness must continue until the day He takes us home.
So, what's your latest God-story?
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