God, you know me so well. And my goodness, you sure are speaking to me today. I’m listening.
That was my silent prayer as I sat in church not long ago, taking in every word and nudge.
Because I believe you’ll relate, and maybe even find it helpful in your own faith walk, I’m sharing a few moments from that Sunday.
A Theme That Drew Me In
It started with the bulletin, carried through our community confession, and continued in a good conversation with Steve after church.
The theme for the day?
“From now on you will be catching people.” (Luke 5:1-11)
The bulletin added this:
“This Sunday highlights unlikely instruments and circumstances appointed to reveal God’s glory. ’Who will go for us?’ God asks. A person of unclean lips, a former persecutor of the church of God, and three fishermen who couldn’t catch a thing. More surprising still, perhaps, is that we are also called.”
And there it was. The people Jesus called were … ordinary. They had fears. Messy pasts. Jobs that exhausted them. They weren’t scholars—they were just people.
Just like us.
They didn’t have their act together.
Jesus knew that.
He called them anyway.
We don’t have our act together.
Jesus knows that.
He calls us anyway.
A Prayer That Stopped Me
During our church’s confession, we prayed these words:
“Merciful God, You speak blessing and compassion into the world. Forgive us for the ways we act with judgement, cruelty, or indifference. We ignore the needs of our neighbors; we resist your call to oppose injustice; we give in to scarcity and fear; we assume the worst about one another…”
Oh my. Each line pressed into my heart. I ignore…resist…give in…assume. I nodded, convicted but also grateful for Christ’s forgiveness, restoration, and renewal.
It made me ask myself: What excuses am I using to avoid saying yes to what God is asking me to do? The ones that let me ignore needs, hoping someone else will step in? Have mercy.
Wrestling With the Questions
Back home, Steve and I asked ourselves some good, hard questions: What are we doing to meet people’s needs? Can we do more? How? Where?
We asked God to help us love Him and others well—to see the people around us the way He does.
The Story We’re Writing
Later, I reread something I’d written before. It still felt just as relevant.*
We’ve all loved “Once upon a time…” stories. But have you wondered what kind of story you’re telling with your life? One day, someone will look back and finish that sentence about us: Once upon a time, she… What?
We can’t control anyone else’s story, but we can be intentional about our own. Will our story be one of mercy, understanding, and compassion? A story where we met needs, even when we didn’t feel ready? Or will it be one where we held back, waiting for the perfect moment that never came?
Years from now, when people look back at this time in history—our time—and they whisper Once upon a time … what will the story be?
Will they see hearts of people who sought good, grace, forgiveness?
Or hearts weighed down by tension, anger, and division?
Will our story show we fought the good fight, kept the faith, and finished the race? Or will it tell of a people who fought each other, wrote our own truths, and lost sight of the race?
So I ask you, as I ask myself:
What will your story be?
Once upon a time, she … What?
Our response matters.
* I wrote a lengthier letter on this in Anticipate God’s Goodness: Letters of Encouragement to Ignite Your Spirit. If you’ve got the book, it starts on page 137.
