One of the things that I love about the Bible is the stories. In fact, the whole Bible is filled with the stories of people like you and me.
Throughout Scripture, we see God intervening in people’s lives. At the start of some people’s stories, they are stumbling in darkness, on their way to hell. But when God intersects their life with His truth, the Holy Spirit dispels the darkness and sets their feet on the road to heaven.
There is destruction and depression and illness…but God steps in, turns them around, and sets them toward blessing and health and peace.
One of the most amazing of these stories is in Mark chapter five. It begins with Jesus having made His way across the Sea of Galilee with His disciples.
And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
This guy was a menace to everyone that came his way. The locals had often hunted him down like an animal and bound him with chains. But nothing could subdue this poor man that was under the control of evil spirits.
Until, that is, he encountered Jesus.
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”
Perhaps you know how the story unfolds. It turns out this man didn’t just have one demon, but a whole host of unclean spirits inside him.
Well, Jesus cast those spirits out of the man. They went into a herd of swine that ran down a steep hill and drowned in the sea. It was quite an event!
So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.
Now this liberated man wanted to stay close to the One who’d set him free. So as Jesus and His disciples prepared to leave, the man asked to go with them too.
Jesus didn’t permit him. But He did tell him to do something. He said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you” (Mark 5:19).
The man did as Jesus told him.
And he departed and began to proclaim…all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.
Imagine what that must have been like. People had known this guy, they’d seen him. Everyone knew he was like a wild, wounded animal. Everyone was afraid of him.
But then he shows up and everything has changed. He is clothed; he is clean; his hair and beard are combed. He’s got a smile on his face!
What a story he had to tell of the One who had worked this incredible miracle of healing and liberation! Everyone who heard it marveled!
You see, there was power in this man’s story.
Friend, there’s power in your story too.
You may well say that your story isn’t quite as dramatic as this demoniac’s. But you still have a story to tell of how God intersected your life and delivered you from the “the power of darkness and conveyed [you] into the kingdom of the Son of His love”! (Colossians 1:13)
Your story may not be filled with drama and intrigue, but it’s your story. Nobody can tell it like you.
Perhaps you feel you’re not qualified to preach doctrine, but you can tell your story! You can tell people what Jesus Christ has done for you.
