During my time at DTS, we learned about stories and different parts of a story. Every story has a background/setting, character, conflict, and resolution. We each have a story.
What’s your setting? What’s your background? Because you were added to a story. The setting includes location, family, friends, values. Whose story were you added to? What’s the history?
My setting? I was abandoned by my birth parents, adopted into the Rhea family, so there are two separate stories I’ve entered into. 1 story I don’t know about and the second story, I have truly become apart of. My mom has a different story than my Dad and different settings. It goes on and on. Each person in the family has a different setting, but we have all come together as 1 family, and that’s the story. Which leads to the next section.
Then who are you’re characters? Who’s apart of this story? There are different types of characters in a story, spectators, victims, villains, and heroes. Which character are you playing? We’ve each played each character at least once in our life. There are characters God has called us into, for some God wants us to be the ‘rescuers’ for those who are stuck in the victim stage. God also uses each character to better the story. The victims are the ones who come out to be heroes or villains, their pain and suffering can be used for good or for bad.
Then there’s the conflict, the heart of any good story, the reason why a story is a story. Because there is brokenness in us, we can relate to others brokenness. One of the main points from the lecture was, “our pain points to our purpose.” We all go through pain and suffering, its inevitable, what tells the story is HOW we use that pain. This is the part where we can choose to be heroes or villains. Externally and internally. Personal example, my brother was brutally murdered and then shortly after my grandparents had died. I could be bitter, be angry, but I’ve been able to use that pain and suffering to help relate to others who have gone through similar events. Lastly, the conflict helps shapes the character. Romans 5:3b-4 puts it well “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”
Then lastly, the resolution. The conflicts produce wounds, now how do we turn those wounds into scars? One of the methods is going in steps like this.
1. Name It
2. Embrace It
3. Forgive It
4. Use it
1. Name It
2. Embrace It
3. Forgive It
4. Use it
First, 2 steps are relatively easy, and once taken it starts the process. The hardest part, at least for me, is the forgiveness part. Without forgiveness, we have bitterness, that bitterness just stays. An analogy is if someone falls and scrapes their knee. First, two steps are just realizing you got injured. Forgiveness stage could be parallel to putting on the ointment and band-aid, then letting it heal. Without the bandage and ointment, then it may get infected and become worse than it actually is. That’s the bitterness part that comes without forgiveness. It’s hard to forgive. My brother was murdered, yet I’m called to forgive the murderer. I’m still working on that part and it's going to be a process. But once that wound has turned into a scar, I get to look back on it, and yes it will be painful, but its a testimony.
Scars aren’t meant to represent that you have it all together and that it isn’t going to hurt. Scars is a representation of what you’ve gone through, your story. It shows that you’ve gone through pain and suffering and didn’t let it overcome you, but you overcame it. Take charge of your story. The setting part of the story isn’t controllable and neither is the conflict that comes your way. Its how you respond. What are you going to do with the unexpected?
Who are you? What’s your story?
