"And I am certain that God, who began
the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally
finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
I love how the Lord uses every act of
faith and obedience to ripple blessings to the entire Body of Christ.
I’ve been affected by one of those “ripples” recently and I’ve
been kindly asked to share about it.
It started in South Sudan where my
friend Whitney Smith is serving her King. Her faithfulness to share
on her blog about the Simply The Story (STS) trainings she has
been participating in and helping to facilitate impacted me
unexpectedly and personally.
The month of December 2012 I had been
intentionally praying that the Lord would equip me to serve Him in my
hometown in Florida, and eventually, overseas in Uganda. It was the
day after Christmas and I felt prompted by the Lord to catch up on
what was happening in the mission work of several of my friends
overseas. When I came to Whitney’s blog, an archived post titled
“What’s in your pocket?” from November 24th
caught my eye.
“What’s in your pocket?”
gave a glimpse into the STS training Whitney helped lead in Tenwek,
Kenya. I had never heard of STS but was immediately gripped by the
concept.
Sharing the gospel and teaching God’s
word in an oral, story teller fashion isn’t a man-made idea. It
struck me afresh that Jesus Himself was a story teller in His earthly
ministry. He used this technique as a vehicle to share His truth with
people of all different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. He had literally created the
people group He was ministering to, and had planted in their hearts a
love for storytelling! Using oral teaching and stories as a
culturally relevant way to reach them, He taught the learned scribe
and the illiterate together in one group.
Jesus also knew that the Holy Spirit
could use stories to bring down defensive walls in hearts. I believe
we’re created to naturally identify with characters in stories. In
stories, we start to imagine ourselves in another person’s place
without even thinking about it and we don’t feel defensive because
it’s not about us. Or is it? Watch how Jesus uses a
story to reveal truth and sin to a proud Pharisee in Luke 7:
"When one of the Pharisees invited
Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and
reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life
learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came
there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at
his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she
wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited
him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he
would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that
she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have
something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a
certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other
fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave
the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one
who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,”
Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and
said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You
did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her
tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but
this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my
feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as
her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves
little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins
are forgiven.” Luke 7:36-48
In the Old Testament, Nathan the
prophet was sent by God to rebuke King David after he committed
adultery and murder. David’s proud heart was hardened by his
choices to cover one sin with multiple other sins and there wasn’t
the confession and repentance of Psalm 51 yet. In 2 Samuel 11:1-7, Nathan, led by the
Spirit of God, was used to penetrate David’s heart with a story.
I signed up for STS that very December
night and was in South Carolina one month later for the leadership
course. In the past two months, what I learned in STS has greatly
impacted the way I present and discuss the Word of God in women’s
ministry, in children’s ministry, and even in one-on-one
conversations with unbelievers. The STS training taught me to engage
with people in a way that Jesus modeled and our hearts have been
created to respond to.
For the word of God is living and
active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
The power and authority is in the
Word of God itself, a living and sharp sword that pierces and
convicts all on its own; the vehicle of STS is another
beautiful way to plant that life-giving, soul-saving sword into the
hearts of men, women, and children.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for faithful
servants who humbly obey You without knowing the impact of their
godly choices. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word and Your way of
penetrating and freeing our hard, proud hearts.
In Christ,
Joy Wood
What a powerful testimony of how God uses our
partnership in ministry to impact one another for His Kingdom!
Maybe storytelling could be a powerful way for you to share the Word of God with others? You can find a schedule of training workshops and their locations at www.simplythestory.org under the Training Info tab.
Or perhaps you want to be a part of making sure our STS training team is able to travel in and out of South Sudan where they help to equip South Sudanese to study and share the Bible in a way that really sinks into our human hearts. You can donate to this part of our ministry at http://www.wgm.org/page.aspx?pid=6285
Would you pray for all of those who are receiving STS training this week in Tonj, South Sudan? The training will wrap up tomorrow and participants will travel back to their home places, but like most skills, it must be practiced to be developed and improved. Pray that motivation and opportunity will arise for each person here to continue seeking to share God's word through this powerful tool of storytelling!
