Your Two Stories

There are two stories being written over our lives. The story everyone sees and the story only you and God see.

The story that everyone sees is the one that is written on bios and resumes. It’s the one we tell at parties and interviews. She planted a church, worked in missions, has a Masters level qualification, speaks in churches around the world…

But there is another story. One that is equally dramatic, but far more hidden. One that is rarely told on stages or recorded on public memos. One that is usually only whispered in quiet moments, revealed in tucked away café corners and sometimes never told even to ourselves.

Yet it is the one that matters most.

It’s the story of our dreams, our fears and our unspoken struggles. The internal journey of our thoughts and prayers. A plot line that is often more difficult to write, but which defines who we are and all that we do. If we ignore it, it will soon write its own story… and ultimately it will be the story that everybody else sees.

It was the story beneath Joseph’s life that really mattered. His rollercoaster ride of failure and promotion from slave to Prime Minister would make headlines, but it was the internal drama of faith and loyalty that wrote the final climax.

The successes of Abraham’s life may be loudly acclaimed around the world, but it was the long painful tale of five altars atop a lonely mountain that would produce them.

I may have made some significant achievements in my life, but it has been the God-moments of revelation and conviction with God that have defined them.

What story are you writing today? Are you more concerned with the outer story of achievement and performance and image? The outer story can masquerade and embellish, but the inner one never can. The inner story always tells the truth and will pen the final story in the end.

Let’s be people that give more attention to our inner story. This is the one that is of greatest concern to God and it is the only one that matters.

 Three Inner Story Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. What area of my life do I need to be honest with myself right now?
2. What is God speaking to me about?
3. What accountability partners am I able to entrust my inner story to?