Several have wondered if I would share the sticky notes on the stained couch. They all say, “I would like to know that I am not the only one who is struggling with stains in my life.”
Isn’t that how we all feel? Am I weird? Am I the only one struggling with this? It is so easy to think we are the only ones who have serious issues in our lives.
I want you to see just how much connecting with others is hard-wired into us by God. We want to be part of a group of people where we are free to be who we are. We don’t want to hide our stains, but we want a church family that will accept us and love us – not judge us – with the stains. Each one of us wants to know that all the rest of us are struggling, too. We want to know we are not alone.
I think that is wonderful, but let’s be careful about something. Cheers was a bar where “everybody knows your name.” That bar provided that same kind of “family.” Everyone who bellied up to it was struggling and everyone else knew it.
What I’m saying about a church family goes beyond that. Yes, we are a group of people with stains, old ones that have dried and brand new ones that we are still trying to clean up. But what brings us together in this family is not that we all have stains but that we have all realized our need for the Healer (Jesus) to bring something good out of the stains we have made.
We only glory in our stains as they point to the Jesus who can cleanse them, cover them and redeem them for His glory! Our stains become a “prime example” of God’s power and grace.
So, am I going to share those sticky notes on the stained couch?
As tempting as it is to help us all know that we are not alone, I am not going to share those and here’s why.
God wants us to be good stewards of our stories. Your stain and how God has helped you (is helping you) through it is yours. It is personal. It your story and God’s story mingled together.
And because it’s yours, it’s yours to tell. I feel like I would be interfering with God’s work in you by taking that from you.
So, you ask, how do I know when and where to tell my story? I wish I had simple answers, a 7-step process, to that. All I can say is ask God that question. Pray about it. Walk with Him and follow the Spirit and you will know when and where someone needs what you have.
And at that moment, be a good steward of your story.
