Healing for a Broken Story?

Something very odd happened yesterday at church. The message was about living our lives in the larger context of God’s story, instead of focusing only on our own small plotlines. At the end of the service, the pastor invited everyone who wanted to make a commitment to “enter the story”, as he put it, to stand. I was exhausted from our trip and (to tell the truth) my attention began to wander a bit. There was a little toddler running around the aisle in front of us, and as I watched him my filled with tears. I felt like my heart had jumped into my throat and I couldn’t swallow.

In that very moment, the pastor walked back up to the center of the stage. He said he felt led by the Spirit to speak to those who feel like they’re living broken stories, and that God wanted to bring healing and restoration to them. The timing was really quite incredible. Of course, I sat in my seat like a rock, but I knew – even if for just a second – that God really saw me.