Chasing Stories

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4

I love a good story. In fact, I have never really met anyone who does not like hearing or telling a good story. While one narrative may be powerful to me and the same narrative unmoving to another, the point is that we all enjoy stories and storytelling. It truly is in the fabric of our society and relationships. I was recently conversing with a dear friend and fellow KBC staff member about a trip my wife and I took and commented about some of the things we experienced during our time away. Upon the conclusion of my sharing, I made a statement that I have thought more intently about since. I said, “Honestly, I am just chasing a good story.” The context, again, was me talking about various experiences on this trip and trying to make the most of each opportunity the days brought us but I have really meditated much on this reality in my life and how much I might be driven by the longing for an experience, or my chasing a story. I will go to great lengths, even to the point of exhaustion, to see the next site, knock the next thing off my bucket list, or interact with the next person in some unique context. Quite literally, Sarah and I have walked for miles and miles both in major cities and in mountainous ranges to see everything we can possibly see in the oftentimes limited amount of time we have. I truly love chasing stories.

The question I have been asking myself though, in those moments of reflection upon chasing a story, is, “Am I chasing the right story?” I would like to take the next few moments to be a little transparent and explain what I mean by that question and how I believe this desire for a story can be used to the glory of God. I would certainly be the first to say that if you are reading this and are resonating thus far that I do not think there is anything inherently bad about wanting to experience new places, new things, and meet new people. What I am suggesting, however, is that we can sometimes be distracted by our longing for the next adventure that our pursuit of the Lord seems less appealing. It is almost as if we may come to a point where we think that following the Lord is boring, inconsequential, and causes us to miss out on life. I admittedly have had these thoughts creep into my mind from time to time and maybe you have too. And, just to be clear, I am not speaking about blatant sinful actions as “experiences,” I am speaking to things like travel, cross-cultural experiences, hobby interests, bucket list items, etc… things that are good in and of themselves in the right context.  So, what do we do with our adventurous sides? How do we both honor the Lord and at the same time appreciate the beauty of new places, new experiences, and new people? I think the Psalmist, David, in chapter 37 gives us a few words of encouragement in these spaces and may spur us on toward using our adventures to both satisfy our longings and at the same time bring glory to the Lord.

1. Trust in the Lord. I believe this is our first step in chasing the right story. An experience is momentary; God’s faithfulness is everlasting. Pursue God and our desire for a story will take care of itself.  
2. Do good. If we want a story, do good for someone else. Doing good for someone else does not always have to mean meeting a tangible need. Doing good might mean simply engaging in dialogue, listening well, and offering helpful words. Simply appreciate the opportunities to be a blessing to another.
3. Dwell in faithfulness.David speaks of “dwelling in the land and befriending faithfulness,” and I believe he uses these words because contextually he is speaking against envying evildoers. He is telling his readers to not fear nor imitate evil but trust God, do good, and be steadfast in faithfulness. Stories of faithfulness are a sweet aroma to the soul of those who hear, so may we dwell there all our days.
4. Delight in the Lord. As I mentioned before, I know in my own heart I can be tempted to think that following the Lord is not adventurous enough, but this is simply a lie. If we delight in the Lord that delight will lead to some of our most cherished stories. Our delight will lead us to go or send missionaries all over the world, our delight will lead us to engage people from unique and diverse backgrounds from our own, our delight in the Lord will want us to do for others before ourselves, our delight in the Lord will cause us to do things that seem like folly to the world but will satisfy our every longing.

If you are like me and long for the next story to tell, I want to encourage you today with those words from David in Psalm 37.  If we trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in faithfulness, and delight in the Lord, I firmly believe, as the Scriptures say, He will give us the desires of our hearts and the stories we so covet. My prayer in this post is simply to encourage each of us to recognize that our adventurous side is a gift from God that can be used for His glory. As such, rather than wrestling with whether our desire for a story is in conflict with our following Christ, let us chase stories that tell of the wondrous things the Lord has done and continues to do through His people all across our globe. Let us be a people who befriend faithfulness, delight in the Lord, and trust that He will satisfy the desires of our hearts and give us more stories to tell than we could ever imagine or dream to tell.

May it be so to the glory of God!