Story Suicide Part 1: Tell Your Story. Let's Make It Matter.Sýnishorn

Thousands of years ago, the art and science of making an impact were carried on the back of Story. It was the method of broadcasting breakthroughs for the generations to come. It was an instrument and an illustration that could be shared with all of humanity. Story changed things. Story started things. 

But then it happened…  

Something terrible happened to our most influential tool. I cannot pinpoint where or when, but somewhere in the moments of history in between then and now, there was an influence that came on the scene that caused us to believe that our Story didn’t matter anymore. We began to believe that only some have the right, or the privilege, or the authority to share. What’s even more detrimental is that we believed that no one would listen even if we tried. 

This infiltrating influence came like an epidemic, creeping in quietly and now rules as it wishes.  It steals, it kills, and it destroys. What is this worldwide epidemic?  

It is known as Story Suicide.

Sometime after Story Suicide came on the scene, there was a man who found himself in a winepress, a place he had run to hide in a time of great personal and national crisis.

He was threshing wheat in a winepress. Did you know that to effectively thresh wheat you need a cross-breeze? But there was no breeze to be found in the hole where he was hiding on that day. At the moment, he did not care about effectiveness, because he was so riddled by his fear that he could not see where he was (in the winepress) was not where he was meant to be.

In Judges chapter 6, we find a man named Gideon.  His Story is well known today, but on, that day, all he wanted was to live to see tomorrow.  He could not and would not consider himself a worthy subject of any story told. So God sent Himself in the form of an angel to interrupt.  Even more so, God called out something that Gideon couldn’t see.  God called out VALUE.

If you’re like me, you can call to mind situations and circumstances that may have happened yesterday or years ago when you found yourself hiding in your own functional ‘winepress’.  

For me, it was my walk-in closet.  A place where I went to escape looking for solace and peace, but all I found was stress, struggles, and a near-suicidal experience.

It could be that all you need on this day is an opportunity to release your story. That’s what I needed, and when I released my story, I found freedom.  

So right now, I want to invite you to look up from your ‘winepress’ and release your Story.  I promise freedom is on the other side; it is still a process, but freedom is found for those who share their Story, and your Story will, no doubt, bring freedom to others.