3 Powerful Ways Sharing Your Story Reveals God's Goodness

Sharing your story is powerful because every person has a unique story.

Some chapters are planned by the God who gave you life, and some are written by the hand of our fallen world.

In the darkness, there is brokenness. The world is not how God originally intended it to be.

Somehow, God can take what He deposited in you on purpose and mix it with the things that have happened to you, the things spoken over you, the things He did not intend for you.

He makes from the pieces of your life a priceless treasure. That is how God sees your story.

Sharing Your Story to Reveal God’s Goodness

One of the things I have learned as a podcaster and author is the value of sharing your story, the whole story.

Most of us like to share the highlights – the mountaintop experiences, the things that make us feel good about ourselves.

We gladly share what we think is beautiful or powerful, but the whole story has the most value.

When you look back and start at the beginning, moving your way through your life, your story takes the shape of a timeline, becoming a foundational place for God to speak.

This timeline becomes a way for His character to be showcased and His miraculous presence to shine.

Sharing Your Story to Overcome Fear

If you look at who I am in Christ now, you will see a strong, bold, godly woman, but when I take you back to the beginning, my life was steeped in anxiety, depression, doubt, pain, rejection, abuse, and trauma.

You might think I would have cursed God, that I would have doubted God’s goodness, that I would want nothing to do with Him.

In the beginning, that was true, until I met Him. When you meet Jesus, you realize His love and kindness far outweigh the darkness of your circumstances.

He is good; when you meet Him, you know it instantly!

I started sharing my story as soon as I met Him. He gave me the courage to look back, and as He walked with me, He healed me along the way. A pivotal part of the healing process is sharing our stories to bridge to other people.

God will use our stories to connect with those who don’t have hope. Each of our stories is crucial. The world needs every one of them. God has a plan to use your story.

I always say God is casting a net over the world, and it is made up of our stories. Sharing our stories is how we go into all the world, as commanded by the Great Commission.

But there are holes in the net. Some of us don’t know how to share our story, are afraid to share it, or, worse yet, don’t fully understand the power of sharing our story.

Sharing Your Story to Help Others

Let me give you an example. I mentor young ladies. The number one thing I hear from them is, “You’re so accomplished, so Godly, so strong, I could never be like that.”

Of course, I correct them at once. “It’s not me you are seeing,” I answer, “it is Jesus.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, I have the boldness to be a witness.

One of the girls I disciple has grown into a strong, mature Christian woman. When we first met, she was filled with anger that she didn’t understand why.

I spent hours praying for her, and God revealed that her anger needed to be transformed. He showed me the root of her hurt, rejection, and fear.

One day, God told me to take her to the thrift store.

We walked around the store looking at all the beautiful things. “I need you to pick out some things that you think would be fun to smash,” I said, surprising her.

“Let’s put a few things in your cart,” I added. “Choose pieces you can envision throwing against a wall.”

We spent the morning filling up our carts with things to break. It was surprisingly fun.

When finished, we went outside at her house, took a tarp, and put it near the brick wall in her backyard.

The Sun was shining brightly on us as we began. She placed the treasures we had found in piles behind us, and she picked up her first figurine to throw.

“Why did you pick that one?” I asked her. “Well, I think because it’s so plain,” she said. “ I like color, but I feel like I’m afraid to express myself with it, as if maybe there was a time someone told me not to, she said sadly.”

God was working. The Holy Spirit is a wise counselor. “Throw it,” I shouted. She raised her arm above her head and threw it as hard as possible.

A smile began to form on her face before it even left her grasp. When the fragile missile hit the brick, the figurine exploded into hundreds of pieces that flew in every direction. “Pick up another one,” I said.

Before I knew it, she was lobbing pottery, decorative plates, and fine china through the air faster than I thought was possible.

“How do you feel?” I asked. “This is amazing,” she yelled, throwing another one. She had filled the tarp with rubble. When she was done, after she had smashed everything, I told her the next part of the plan.

I haven’t told you yet that this young lady is an artist.

Sharing Your Story to Find Healing

“Now we’re going to take all of these pieces and dump what’s on the tarp into a big bin,” I said. “Why,” she asked. “Because God’s not done with you yet,” I answered tenderly.

The next day, we took the pieces and made a mosaic with them. We had so much fun figuring out which items went with which and choosing the colors and shapes.

The piece was explosive in a good way. Together, in her hand, the broken pieces came to life, full of joy.

After laying the pieces into patterns and feeling that everything was where it should be, she went back in and filled in between the cracks with grout, making one unified piece of artwork.

Later that day, I had her go back in with gold leaf, rubbing it here and there over the vast spaces, unifying the piece with golden joinery.

This was my first time guiding someone to express artwork similar to the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

Kintsugi is an art form used in Japan, where broken pottery is put back together with gold, rather than the broken vessel being discarded.

After the repair, the piece is usable again and somehow more beautiful, stronger, and more valuable in all of the broken places.

This is how our lives are put back together by God, made purposeful, colorful, valuable new creations for the world to see.

Oh, that we might pick ourselves up and show every place that has been repaired, and how God has unified it, redeemed it, revived it, revitalized it, and made it ready for something new!

Your Story is in God’s Hands

God is the God of details. He does not miss a thing.

Everything He makes is beautiful. Even that which is broken, sharp, and ragged in His hands can be turned into a stunning masterpiece.

That is what your story is in His hands.

Psalm 147:3 (ESV) says,  “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

I started my podcast four years ago to help people through the process of looking back.

I sit with them and lean in listening along with God. I share His heart with them. God helps me point out the things that they may have missed along the way.

Recently, I wrote a book to do the same thing because I believe more than anything else in this world, sharing our story is the most significant gift that we have, and it is the only thing we can offer back to God to use. He owns everything, but has given us the choice whether we want to join Him.

The Harvest field is ripe, but the workers are few.

Are you prepared to share your story? Do you understand how important sharing your story is? There is someone out there waiting to hear it!

A person is waiting to respond, “You mean I’m not alone?”

Author

Amanda Schaefer

Amanda Schaefer is a podcast host, author, and speaker. She carries with her the goodness of looking through a lens of gratitude. The “A Cup of Gratitude” podcast is global. Amanda was a collaborator in LifeChanging Stories and has a new book, Holy Plot Twists, available on Amazon.