The power of story

At a conference yesterday, while tiredness crept onto me like fog walking in from the sea, I was reminded of the power of one’s story. The power of talking to even a stranger about who and what you've been given is incredible. That's how the church is built, I'm told, and I believe it to be true.
When is the last time you told someone how and when and where and even why you came to Christ, or even when you felt God move in your life?
It’s amazing what power rests in doing that.
The instruction was easy; take three other people to a place of their choosing and talk.
In a manner of minutes, maybe even moments, the walls came down, the shields were diminished and we, well, we shared. Strangers became friends. We were better for it in the same way hearts are better for giving and minds are better for sharing. Two or more are more important and more able than one. Simple. And often forgotten.
We were reminded of when Jesus first sent the disciples out. We often focus on the power given but yesterday I saw this: they were sent two by two.
The power of shared story can’t be forgotten or diminished.
We become, if not friends, then certainly persons of shared experience.
Two, without question, are more powerful than one.
So, why indeed do we struggle so much in letting those walls come down, in letting our hearts be touched, in letting ourselves be seen for who we truly are? I suspect it becomes about who we trust.
And why do we keep our baggage from God, as long as we are talking about sharing?
The Bible says, “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been condemned.”
When we trust him, when we trust others, we begin to receive what I can only say is peace. I truly mean that.
The power that comes from that is unimaginable.