Why Stories Matter

Humans are storied beings.

We can’t help but lean in when we hear the phrase, “Once upon a time.” But we don’t merely consume or even tell stories, we live in them and by them. We don’t just have stories, we are stories. This is because we were created by a story-telling God. When God revealed himself to humanity, he chose to give us a book of stories of how he acted to rescue a rebellious people and a cursed world. What’s more shocking, however, is that in the pages of those stories, God revealed himself to be a lover of human stories; a God not just eager to speak but to listen; a God who is curious to hear the stories of the people he created.

“Where have you been and where are you going?” God spoke these words to a marginalized woman named Hagar who had fled to the wilderness to die. He wanted to listen to her speak about the harm done to her and hear her desires for a better future. As a result, she gave God the first name we read in Scripture–el roi…the God who sees me.

God wants to meet you in your wilderness, in your places of hurting and hiding, of exile and escape, and ask you to tell your story. “Where have you been, child, and where are you going?” Though all-knowing and ever-present, he leans in with a curious and empathetic concern, ready to bear witness to your story. Will you find the courage to tell your story? Will you speak of the heartache you have suffered, the shame you still carry, the trauma and the pain? Will you dare the speak of the longings of your heart for the future? The Ancient Storyteller wants to hear.