For God to Get the Glory, You Have to Tell the Story

I came across a phrase a few weeks ago that has settled in my heart in a big way. Here it is. “Everything that God allows to transpire is for our good and God’s glory.”

Everything.

How can this be? I can think of a lot of situations I’ve experienced that don’t look like they are that great for me or God’s glory… at first. But then I discover something that happened along the way. I see how I have been changed. I see how God has shown His power or His mercy. Watching my husband grow in his faith after a staggering diagnosis or watching a son and his wife grow stronger after a miscarriage causes me to thank the Lord. While I am not saying we should be thankful for terrible events in life, we can always be thankful for how God uses them to change us.

A few months ago I wrote a post called, “Tell Your Story.” I talked about how people needed to hear firsthand the things God is doing in the world. How will they know unless we tell them?

But I’m seeing a trend that makes it much harder to tell your story. It’s the idea that we all deserve privacy. At this point in the history of our country, we have more ways to communicate than ever before but we’ve decided what goes on in our lives is nobody’s business. We’ve become good at saying, “yes, I’m fine,” when we really aren’t. Or perhaps we’ve even convinced ourselves that we are.

The thing is, if we stop sharing our lives with others, they will never see the victories. They will never know God has the answer to everything humanity will ever face.

The choice is ours. We can continue to hide in our self-made bubbles, thinking we need our privacy OR we can learn to be transparent and allow others to see us going through our stuff. If we remain silent, God never gets the glory. Others won’t believe they can ever be overcomers if they never watch anyone overcome anything. Sure, it involves risk. It involves stepping away from pride and self-sufficiency. But in the end, it is for your good and God’s glory so how can you lose?

I’m not saying this is an opportunity to air our dirty laundry in public places, but I AM saying when God is nudging us to share our story, no matter how hard it might be, He will bring good from our obedience. To be vulnerable isn’t a bad thing. It gives God a pliable platform to work in amazing ways. It requires trust and strength that you can’t get from inside yourself.

Tell your story. Tell others how God has been faithful to you. How He’s being faithful to you now. Share the hope that is in you. It might be the most important conversation you will have.

And God will get the glory.

“And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.” – Mark 5:20(NASB)