The Power of The Story
We all know stories. My kids love bedtime stories. My grandparents listened to Paul Harvey and Garrison Keillor. My wife and I enjoy stories in the form of movies. My friend, Matt, is into songs…another form of story. It seems our lives are filled with and given significance through story.
The Bible recounts one story where Jesus is on his way to heal an “important” person’s daughter. He is side tracked by a desperate woman who has been bleeding for 12 years. In a society where blood made you unclean and being unclean separates you from God, she was a social and spiritual outcast. She has been rejected, ignored, and looked down on by thousands of people. But because of what she has heard about Jesus, she gathers up the last bit of her hope and goes to Him.
By touching Jesus’ cloak she is immediately healed. Afterwards the story says that she came to Him “trembling with fear and told him the whole story.” Her story took 12 years to write. It didn’t take five minutes to share. It could have taken hours. No matter, Jesus listened to her WHOLE story. By listening, He gave significance to a woman of no great significance.
This is now the Dry Bones way. We stop what we are doing and give significance to the street kids by listening to their story…their WHOLE story. Then, at some point they get to hear The Story. It is a story that is filled with love from God, the hope of Christ, and the dignity that comes from being a child of The King. It is our prayer that they will each take their place in The Story.
