The Same Kind of Different

When I was younger, I used to think that I didn't really have much of a testimony or that it wasn't very interesting. I grew up in church. I was singing church songs as soon as I could utter a tune. I wasn't a bad kid. I wasn't rebellious. At some point I understood what a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was about and believed he was my Savior. I did not have that Damascus Road experience from Saul to Paul and as a result I put all of my effort into being a bible beating teenager because I didn't have the compelling "My current life is completely different because I know Jesus" story. Even as a young adult working in ministry, I always kinda felt like...."well, how can people see a major difference in me and therefore want to know more about Jesus." I meet people frequently who share these same feelings. "I don't have a story" or "it's not as good as theirs,"  but oh sweet friends.....you do. We all do. Maybe your characters and setting are different. Maybe the climax of the story comes at a different point, but we all have the important elements.

The more my faith matures, the more my story develops and I realized a couple of nights ago it's not because I was one way and now I'm not, but because Jesus is who He is and everything becomes important as it revolves around this one fact. Being married to a man who does have that night and day salvation story keeps me in awe of God, but it doesn't make my story or your story any less important or exciting because in the end, every story of salvation is a redemption story..  Bear with me as this seems like a long passage, but hang in there, I want you to see your story in the midst.

Psalm 107, The Message

^1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
    His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
    Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
    from the four winds, from the seven seas.

^4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
    looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
    staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out toGod.
    He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
    that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
    the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

^10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
    cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
    for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
    and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
    broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
    he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
    your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
    so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
    that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
    tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

^23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
    you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
    saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
    an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
    your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
    you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
    put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
    and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
    shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

Good people see this and are glad;

 bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.

If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
    it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.

Some of you. Not all of you. We are all at various places in our journey in various circumstances when we start our journey with God. No matter how similar they may be, no two people's stories are exactly the same, because God is a personal God and meets each of us right where we are. However.... if you are a Christian, no matter how different our stories may be, we all had that defining moment where we called out to God. Maybe he rescued you from the miry pit. Maybe He reached into what seemed to be hell and snatched you out. Maybe he healed you. Maybe he saved your from your religious and righteous self sitting on a pew in church. Or maybe you find yourself in that moment of self conflict and you haven't yet cried out to God. 

Well, dear friends, for those that have made that cry...we can tell you that the next part is not a mystery. We should "thank God for His Marvelous love, for His miracle mercy to the children He loves." That's me and that's you.  You see...your story doesn't have to resemble a made for TV movie in order to be important. And you don't have to have the squeaky clean past to earn your right to spend eternity with God. The beauty of your story and my story....and why it's important is because GOD steps into our lives in unique and specific ways and meets us each right where we are extending the Same love and the Same mercy to each and every one of us. ALL of our stories end with the SAME amazing ending. 

See....we're all the same kind of different. 

Different circumstances. Different chapters.

Same God. Same Savior. Same Love. Same Mercy. Same Forgiveness. 

Share your story. You never know who may need to hear it and connect with it. Someone may think that God can't possibly love them. Some may think they are a "good person" and therefore OK.  You never know the silent struggles of another and who may be dying to be a part of "the same" part of your story.

If you find yourself caught in the differences, confused, or intrigued and want to become part of the same kind of different, I'd love to tell you how.

Blessings, 

Morgan

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