Devotional Thoughts for the Week of August 2, 2026 - He Knows Your Story
I was blessed to attend a celebration of life for a lovely woman named Nancy. Hearing about her faith and the blessing she was in the lives of those who knew her left me wishing I had made an effort to get to know her a little more. I had greeted her by name Sunday after Sunday, but had never sat with her and asked to hear her story. I look forward to getting to know her while we are spending eternity together with Jesus.
Each of us encounters far more people during this sojourn on earth than we can really know in a deep way. That reality leaves me in continual awe of God who is intimately acquainted with each person on the planet every moment of his/her life. God is amazing! He knows your story and He knows mine. Remember the encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). She was amazed when He told her the story of her life. She went to the townspeople, describing Him as a “Man who told me everything I ever did” (4:29). Jesus truly knew her. I have listened to dozens of testimonies of former muslims who have had visions or dreams of The Man in White. Similar to the woman of Samaria, they commonly report feeling completely seen and known and yet completely accepted. Our gracious God is amazing!
What is your story? There are probably only a select number of people who really know you, the major events in your past, and what drives your present. Even those you have told can’t fully understand what significant experiences really felt like in the moment or the long-term impact they have had on your life. God knows. He was there in every moment of joy or sorrow, of hopeful excitement and painful rejection. He knows the way others have treated you and the people you have wounded. He knows the lies you have believed about yourself. God knows and cares. All of us have pages, even whole chapters we wish we could erase from our stories. Unfortunately, that option is not available to us. If, however, we will fully surrender our lives to Him, He will sanctify us and redeem even the ugliest parts of our stories. In the process He gives us a testimony to help others find their way to Him. He is so good, so very tender.
Someday in heaven I believe we will share, and hear others share, what God has done in the lives of His image-bearers throughout the generations. And we will worship Him in awe and wonder at the ways He has worked in each life. As we await that day, let us be careful to celebrate the ways we see Him working in our own lives and the lives of others here and now. Holy Spirit, we surrender ourselves fully to You. Have Your way in us. Transform us, we pray, into the likeness of Jesus our Savior. Write our stories in a way that brings glory to God. I pray that we will trust You and abide in Christ throughout the process. This is the prayer of our hearts. Lynn
I was blessed to attend a celebration of life for a lovely woman named Nancy. Hearing about her faith and the blessing she was in the lives of those who knew her left me wishing I had made an effort to get to know her a little more. I had greeted her by name Sunday after Sunday, but had never sat with her and asked to hear her story. I look forward to getting to know her while we are spending eternity together with Jesus.
Each of us encounters far more people during this sojourn on earth than we can really know in a deep way. That reality leaves me in continual awe of God who is intimately acquainted with each person on the planet every moment of his/her life. God is amazing! He knows your story and He knows mine. Remember the encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). She was amazed when He told her the story of her life. She went to the townspeople, describing Him as a “Man who told me everything I ever did” (4:29). Jesus truly knew her. I have listened to dozens of testimonies of former muslims who have had visions or dreams of The Man in White. Similar to the woman of Samaria, they commonly report feeling completely seen and known and yet completely accepted. Our gracious God is amazing!
What is your story? There are probably only a select number of people who really know you, the major events in your past, and what drives your present. Even those you have told can’t fully understand what significant experiences really felt like in the moment or the long-term impact they have had on your life. God knows. He was there in every moment of joy or sorrow, of hopeful excitement and painful rejection. He knows the way others have treated you and the people you have wounded. He knows the lies you have believed about yourself. God knows and cares. All of us have pages, even whole chapters we wish we could erase from our stories. Unfortunately, that option is not available to us. If, however, we will fully surrender our lives to Him, He will sanctify us and redeem even the ugliest parts of our stories. In the process He gives us a testimony to help others find their way to Him. He is so good, so very tender.
Someday in heaven I believe we will share, and hear others share, what God has done in the lives of His image-bearers throughout the generations. And we will worship Him in awe and wonder at the ways He has worked in each life. As we await that day, let us be careful to celebrate the ways we see Him working in our own lives and the lives of others here and now. Holy Spirit, we surrender ourselves fully to You. Have Your way in us. Transform us, we pray, into the likeness of Jesus our Savior. Write our stories in a way that brings glory to God. I pray that we will trust You and abide in Christ throughout the process. This is the prayer of our hearts. Lynn
