There once was a beloved king who was approached by one of his wisest and most trusted counselors regarding a matter of injustice. His advisor told him about two men, one rich and one poor. The rich man had a large herd of sheep, but the poor man had only one little lamb that he had raised from the time he was a child. The little lamb had shared his food and drank from his cup and was like his own child.
One day a traveler visited the rich man. Local custom required that he welcome this traveler and show him the hospitality of a good meal. But the rich man chose not to take one of his own sheep to prepare for the meal. Instead, he took the little lamb that belonged to the poor man, killed it, cooked it and prepared it as the meal for the traveler.
When the king heard about this terrible injustice, he burned with anger. “Bring me the man who has done such a terrible thing,” he said to his counselor. “He must die to pay for his sin.” But the counselor then informed him that he, the king, was the rich man in the story.
Those who know their old testament will recognize this as the passage from 2nd Samuel where Nathan tells King David that he committed the same kind of injustice when he caused Uriah’s death by ordering him to the front lines of a battle so that he (David) could take his wife, Bathsheba, for his own.
Nathan’s telling of the story about the rich man and his terrible treatment of the poor man had a greater emotional impact on David than had he simply confronted David and told him that his actions were sinful in the eyes of the Lord. Nathan’s objective seems to have been to make David feel the guilt of his actions, which were evil in the same way as the rich man killing the poor man’s only beloved sheep.
David got the message. And he suffered the consequences of his sin as God allowed his first born son with Bathsheba to fall ill and die. I think it's safe to assume that David never forgot the story communicated to him by the prophet Nathan.
Stories are an indelible part of human history. For thousands of years, stories have been passed from one generation to the next, whether they are fact-based re-tellings of actual incidents (history) or tales intended to teach an age-old truth or communicate a lesson. Think of Aesop’s fables: Who can forget the lessons of “the boy who called wolf” or the dog who wanted the bone in the mouth of the dog he saw in his reflection in the pond?
Dan Taylor, professor at Bethel University, has written and spoken at length on the power of stories: “Stories are God’s idea,” he says. We human beings are “story-shaped creatures.”
“We live in stories the way fish live in water, breathing them in and out,
buoyed up by them, taking from them our sustenance, but rarely conscious
of this element in which we exist.” https://www.wordtaylor.com/
God uses story as His primary means of communicating to generations of people through His Word. Genesis begins with the most famous opening to a story of all-time: "In the beginning..." and continues with one story after another. The entire Bible is basically one large compilation of stories.
Jesus taught in parables, which are essentially stories with a moral lesson. His parables were rich with layers of meaning that still resonate today. They “stick” in our minds, instructing us in how we should think and behave, influencing generation after generation with their profound wisdom.
Which laborers do you relate to in Jesus’ parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20? The ones who came early and worked all day but received the same wages as those who came in the eleventh hour? Or those who came to the vineyard in the eleventh hour and were immeasurably grateful for the wages they received? Which seeds are you most like in Jesus’ parable of Sower and the Seed (Luke 8: 5-8)? Have you been trampled upon, unable to bear fruit because you fell on rocks or were choked by thorns? Or are you flourishing and bearing fruit on this earth one hundredfold?
We come back to Jesus' parables over and over, reading them to our children, getting fresh perspectives during a Bible study, or hearing them extrapolated upon from the pulpit. Why?
Because they are filled with wisdom that nourishes the soul.
Jesus’ words, given to him by God the Father, are intended to be the spiritual bread that sustains us, nourishes us, and helps us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Jesus' words and stories will change you, if you let them.
There is power in stories. It's not something that can be measured or charted or expressed in a Powerpoint presentation. I'm not aware of any scientific experiment that has proven the power of stories. Their power is in the impact they have on our lives and how they influence our behavior. Stories need to be told. And everyone has a story.
Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage.”
Every one of us is acting out a personal story in which we are the central character-- the protagonist of God’s play about our life. Whether a flawed hero like Hamlet, a grief-stricken lover like Romeo, or a larger-than-life fool like Falstaff… the story of our life is unfolding before our eyes every day. We’re all playing a role in a larger story that only God understands.
The history of the world is, essentially, His Story. The mere fact that you are alive on God's earth at this moment in time means that you have a role to play in His Story. The story of your life matters. To your family and friends. To God. You may not understand it as you’re living it but you can trust that God does.
Our mission at Beacon of Light & Hope is to tell stories that uplift and encourage through films and videos. We seek to share powerful stories of God's amazing grace. If you have a story you'd be willing to share, especially if it involves an answer to prayer, please click HERE.
Recommended viewing (Dan Taylor on the Power of Story):
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