The World May Not Need Your Story
“You have a story to tell the world.” It’s a phrase I’ve heard often. As a woman who’s experienced several rare physical ailments throughout my thirty-two years of life, the phrase always gives me pause. Those years of trials grew me into the person I am, but do I owe more of the world my story? I wondered if perhaps advocacy for nursing complications or rare blood diseases should take over the theme of my writing. I was worried I had not shared enough about my suffering. Does God want more of my story from me?
I don’t think I’m the only one who has felt pressed by these questions. It’s hard not to log onto Facebook or Instagram without being surrounded by authors, leaders, or speakers telling their stories and encouraging us to share our own. It’s an idea that has taken deep root among evangelicals as well, with good intentions. We seek to find good fruit from the Lord out of the suffering we have been through (James 5:7-11). But just like any truth, we must be very careful not to take this true idea and twist it into what it does not mean.
DOES GOD NEED MY STORY?
As Christians we might be quick to concede God does not need us. We know God is not served by human hands, as if he wanted anything (Acts 17:24-25). He is all-powerful, perfectly fulfilled in his own being. Yet I wonder if we forget that he doesn’t even need us to broadcast our particular stories of his redemption. Because this deals more with God’s work, it can be a line that’s easy to step over. Just as every pastor or Christian leader can falsely believe his particular ministry is vital, we must remember that God can use (or not use!) the trials in our lives how he sees fit.
God doesn’t carry us through trials and then wait watching, hoping that we’ll make the most of the lessons he has shown us. No, he is still very much in control. It’s still not up to us. I don’t have to make sure my blog posts receive thousands of likes or bare my suffering to every stranger in order to make sure good comes from my grief. Because God is sovereign over all, he is sovereign in our trials and how he will plan to use them afterwards.
WHO DOES NEED MY STORY?
Though God doesn’t need our stories, they are an incredible avenue God uses to encourage his church. Paul tells us specifically that God comforts us in our suffering so we are able to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:4). Paul further reminds us God works all things together for good for those who love him (Rom. 8:28). The Bible is not shy about showing that there is greater good that will come from the trials we encounter. The trouble is when we grab these promises and turn them into handy equations. We assume we’ll find the purpose or see the numbers that prove our trial was worth something.
Tidy equations and results might help us feel better, but they are a man-made invention by our limited wisdom. Elisabeth Elliot wrote about this in regards to her husband’s martyrdom saying, “There is always the urge to oversimplify . . . we are tempted to assume a simple equation here. Five men died. This will mean x-number of Waorani Christians. Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Cause and effect are in God’s hands. Is it not the part of faith simply to let them rest there?”
As much as we wish, we may never see a two-to-one or even one-to-one ratio of good results to our grief. We may never get to write a book that encourages millions, be interviewed on a podcast, or form an advocacy group. God may decide the world doesn’t need our stories, but instead one or two saints do. This is no less of a victory.
We are aware of the great lives of the Apostles, Paul, or the first martyr Stephen who shared how the Lord worked redemption in their hearts for all to read and benefit (Acts 7). Yet does this mean the second-century woman who attended a house church in Corinth used her grief less because she only shared it with the children in her home? No, of course not. God works his goodness and his kindness in the halls of the king of Babylon, just as he works it in the small farming community home to Naomi and Ruth (Jer. 27:6; 43:10; Ruth 1). Our human minds would like to think one is better than the other, but God in his infinite wisdom does not work as we do.
Since we know God is sovereign, we can rest knowing he will provide the exact opportunities and relationships we need to speak of his goodness. The times I’ve been most amazed at the way God used my suffering never involved an article or a podcast interview. Instead, I’ve been most amazed at God’s use of personal suffering when I realized he had already put a woman in my life who needed the exact comfort I was able to provide. It’s those small and ordinary situations that bring us to tears at the merciful kindness of the Lord for letting us glimpse his majesty through suffering and sharing.
OBEDIENCE, NOT EQUIVALENCIES
Ultimately, instead of numbers and success, God asks us for obedience. He is trustworthy to handle the results. Perhaps that might mean you will find a great deal of opportunities to share about what God has brought you through. Maybe you do feel led to pursue blogging, a book, or speaking opportunities. If God has led you to such a conclusion, you should walk in obedience. The opportunity for advocacy for topics like abuse, fostering, adoption, and chronic illness can be such an important avenue to minister into. There are many who have taken opportunities to share their own struggles publicly in order to bring comfort and healing to other saints.
But we must remember not to isolate the words of these specific promises and necessarily equate them to a large, public platform. For when we do, we end up limiting God’s work and the small, everyday beauty of what has been happening in the body of Christ throughout all of history. Our suffering is never fruitless simply because the narrative of our suffering feels hidden from others.
Perhaps you’ll only share God’s work in your life with a handful of people in your local church. Or maybe, like Job, you might never even see the fruit of your suffering while you are alive.
Whatever the case may be: God’s promises remain true, and we can know that nothing is wasted (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Somehow, in God’s infinite wisdom, he has already used whatever affliction you have been through to prepare you an eternal weight of glory.
We do have a story to tell. The Bible encourages us to tell of his goodness and speak of his salvation “all the day long” (Ps. 71:15; 145:1-7). Yet we don’t have to be guilted or run ourselves ragged for whatever level of success we deem acceptable. Instead we can entrust our grief and his redemption unto our sovereign Lord, knowing he will bring near the exact people who need to hear us sing of his praises.