Trusting God with my story empowers me to live a story worth telling.
I recently started running again. One foot in front of the other, I press on along dirt roads and busted-up asphalt. It’s there that I see it, a tuft of green forcing its way through the rough terrain. Surrounded only by bedrock and gravel, a flower stretches upward. It defies the broken road, and green growth springs up—sustained and entrusted to its Creator.
Sustained. Entrusted. I punctuate my steps with these words in my mind. And I recall my own broken road: broken dreams, crying out to God as loss, death, and grief overwhelm me. But I am also overwhelmed by His steady, kind presence through the torrent of my tears and confusion: Listen to me…I have upheld you the whole way through… I am He who sustains you. I will carry you (Isaiah 46:3-4). Entrust yourself to me… (1 Peter 4:19). The image of His strong hand cradling me while I grieved an empty cradle is burned into my mind. And a question burned in my heart—Will I? Will I entrust myself to You, God? Will I act like the gospel is true when I hurt, when I am hard pressed to feel the truth?
In the face of suffering, I do not always understand the purposes of God, but I do trust the heart of God, the heart that wore flesh to weep with us. The gospel means He has entered into my broken places—that He Himself was broken—to rescue me. That gospel is still reality even when I grapple with conflict and confusion. There are days I’d rewrite parts of my story. If I held the script in my hand, it would bleed red ink from a multitude of edits. But instead, it bleeds the blood of Jesus, and that is infinitely better. I am sustained in Him.
The gospel means I gain Christ. I gain Christ! This Jesus—the one whose worth surpasses it all – is with me. Let that sink in for a moment. The Holy God holds me—and you. This is His promise now and forever. Remembering God’s promises beyond this one life helps me to live this one life well.
Jesus tells us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Every broken place is covered over by the Overcomer—He is with us! This is the way we stand up against every hard thing, like a flower persevering through hard ground, trusting our stories to Him. What is heartache, uncertainty, or fear in the face of Jesus? It cannot stand up.
Paul urges, “Whatever happens, do this one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). In other words, your life reflects the story you most believe.
I believe God is writing a better story. Whatever happens, I can trust Him. Trusting God with my story empowers me to live a story worth telling. He is writing a better story beyond this one life, one in which the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).
Sustained. Entrusted. This is who we are in Christ! We can entrust our stories to Him—even all the broken, hurting parts we’d write differently—because He is writing one better. I want to join Him in that story, the one that says: I trust You. You are with me. You are worth it. And when we do, we help others see God. He has entrusted you with the story of His faithful love in your life.
Now my burning question turns to you—will you? Will you entrust your story to Him? Will you join Him in the one He’s writing—the one worth telling, pointing others to God? You can trust Him. He is with you. He is worth it.
