The Story Behind the Story: the Testimony That is Never Let Go

A few weeks ago, I made a post. It seemed simple enough: Just me fighting my nerves and sharing a short story.

Uhm...not the case. At all.

Okay, so it is true, I was terrified of sharing that story. Having never written about tough topics like that before, I didn't know if I handled it right. I didn't know if people would hate me for even daring to write about tough topics.

But let me rewind the tape. Let me tell you the story behind the story. Because I think the first story is testimony enough on its own.

Once upon a time,

there was a girl. A girl who had fought many battles against the shadows. A girl who still had light thriving within her.

She had heard tales of other talented writers who had prayed over their writing, and seen God move miraculously with it. They told tales throughout the land, far and wide, about what had happened.

And that girl wished it would happen to her too.

It had happened once or thrice in her lifetime, but for years it had remained just a legend—to her, anyway.

But she never quite gave up that hope.

One day, she was listening to music when the idea blossomed in her mind. She opened a blank scroll, and started writing out the idea. Word by word, the foundation of the story began to take form.

After she had finished writing, the girl read over the scroll's words. But the themes the story tackled were difficult—too dark, she thought. It's too personal. I've never written a story like this before.

Those thoughts played chase all around her mind. Going around and around and around.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. She sat down and began to write, doubting the whole thing. But she discovered something. The words no longer were hard to form. They just. . . flowed.

The legend must be true, the girl thought, amazed, but still shocked.

The girl let the words flow non-stop. She worked away at it for hours, only leaving her scroll for a meal. Then she kept going.

And by the end of that day, the story was finished.

The girl read over the story. She could barely believe what had happened—how this wild story had taken shape all on its own. She was amazed, but she foolishly thought it had been her own doing. Well, this must be useless, she thought to herself. I can't share this with anyone. It's too personal. And people might hate me for writing about tough topics. What if I wrote them wrong?

Visions of critics, people hating her work, floated before her eyes.

The girl locked the story away in a dark and dusty corner. It's nothing good, she thought to herself. There must be something wrong with me for even writing that. No one needs to know—I don't want to lose any friends.

But that wasn't the end.

The flame the story was blazed into a large fire, refusing to stay in the dark corner any longer. Finally, the girl realized it. To settle the story, she finally agreed to share it. But only to one person.

So she sent the story to an avocado-loving friend, uncertain and terrified. She included, with the scroll, a message: If you really hated this story, I won't be offended.

But that was not what she was expecting.

Her friend loved it.

It was then that the girl realized that maybe her story could be something more. That maybe it did need to be shared.

But no. She locked it away in its dusty corner, and even as the flame glimmered and grew, she refused to let it out.

You belong there now, she thought. In the dark shadows where all my other stories are.

And she forgot all about the story.

But the story refused to just stay there. It glimmered until it caught the girl's attention again. And then she realized it could no longer be ignored in the shadows. It needed to shine—out in the open.

The girl realized that the story wasn't hers.

The girl realized that the One that had written the story in the first place—and made the words flow—wanted this story to be shared.

And it didn't matter what others thought.

It was about obeying the Writer of the story.

She looked back at her story. She realized the theme was all about His purpose.

And she realized that if this Writer wanted the story to be shared, He must have a purpose for it.

So she took that great leap. She shut away her fears about what others thought—and pressed "publish."

(She almost clicked "unpublish" that same day, the girl was so terrified.)

But the story was now out there for the world to see. For people to pick apart. For people to criticize.

But also—for people to read. For people to share.

When the girl received multiple messages flowing in, she held her breath as she opened them. And they were all so encouraging and positive, the girl almost cried.

People loved her story. It had encouraged them. Even people who had gone through the same tough things she had written about.

While that was wonderful, the girl realized that people loving her story wasn't what mattered.

It was about what the Author was doing with it.

He had used her to write her story. And by obeying his bidding, He had allowed the story to touch others. It was overwhelmingly amazing to watch.

The moral of the story is...

If you haven't guessed already, that girl is me. And the story is Never Let Go. That took some big courage on my part, but now it all made sense. God was using that story. He wanted it to be shared. He wrote it, after all! I just had to listen. I had to shove past those aching doubts of my abilities and the story to take courage and do it for Him.

And so the moral of the story is: if you feel God has put something or someone on your heart, don't let doubt get in the way. Pray about it, yes, and then go do it. Because as was explored in Never Let Go—He has a purpose. And to serve Him, we must also do the works He has called us to do.

Because He has a plan and perfect timing when we do not.

I want to hear your stories!

Have you ever allowed God to use you and been astonished at the results? Have you ever doubted a calling God has placed on your heart? How did God help you overcome it?

Drop a comment below and tell me about it—and no, you don't have to write it in the weird style I did. 😂 I'd love to chat with you! We need more of these amazing testimonies.