2 Reasons To Share Your Story For God’s Glory

Woman sitting at desk with books and notebook starting to write.

We recently had the honor of writing our first guest post for a Christian chronic illness blogger. We did a three part series for this blog, each of us writing an article from one of our experiences dealing with chronic illness. Here is an excerpt from the first article. Your can read the entire post on her site, Navigating The Storms.

2 Ways To Use Your Story For God’s Glory

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 60% of Americans are living with some type of chronic illness. A diagnosis of a chronic illness can come with feelings of denial, anger, grief, and anxiety. If you’re like me it also brings relief, but at some point you have to face the harsh reality that things may never be the same again. You have changed. Your life has changed. You now have a “new normal.” When this happens, we can choose to focus on what we can’t do, or we can look for opportunities to use the abilities we still have to honor God. And trust me, there is still something you can do. If you’re still breathing, God isn’t done with you. You see, God’s grace is enough for you, and His power is made perfect in your weakness. It’s His specialty.

A few weeks ago, my pastor said something that really stuck with me. While talking about God not always answering our prayers the way we would like, he said, “The clay doesn’t tell the Potter what it will be.” We don’t always get to choose the shape our life will take, but we can always strive to be useful in whatever shape we are in.

Why Share Your Story?

One way we can be useful is to share our story with others. II Corinthians 1:3-4 tells us, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” Who knows? Perhaps your faith in living with your illness will allow you to be a comfort to someone in a similar situation. In order to be able to give this comfort, you must be willing to share your story, a part of your life, with others. Oddly, it can be very freeing to not have to keep your own headaches private, and in releasing them into the world, you help others know they, too, are not alone.