Tell a good story - Will Reynold

I love storytelling. I love watching movies, listening to a public speaker, or reading a book, as long as it is a good story. And I believe telling stories to one another is one of the best ways to grow closer. One of the best storytellers out there, in my opinion, is the Pixar Animation Studios. Now, Pixar has a set of rules that each of their movies must follow and one of these rules is a format style. Every story they tell must follow this format: “Once upon a time there was (blank) and they were (blank) until one day (blank) then everything changed.” An example of that is “Once upon a time there was Woody and he was Andy’s favorite toy until one day Buzz Lightyear showed up, then everything changed.

Recently I was able to reflect on the past few years and see what God has brought me out of and what He’s brought me to. I tried to use that same format with my life. “Once upon a time there was Will and he was sad, struggling, confused, depressed. Until one day, God opened a door for Will to grow in Him and to have a Godly community, then everything changed.” The Lord has brought me out of a dark time in my life where I faced a few trials. He’s brought me to a place, with the Fellowship, that I’m able to share my stories. In that, He’s taught me a few things. Telling a personal story allows you to open up and to be vulnerable with the people around you. Once you are able to show the good and the bad to the people around you, and they still choose to love you, while in return you do the same to them, that is where God shows up in that community and you’re able to grow closer to the Lord together.

Now, telling personal stories are great, but the Lord also taught me how truly powerful a story can be. I like to think I have some good stories, even though I’m sure they’re not all winners, but I do know the greatest story there is. In the fellowship, God has constantly shown me how powerful the story of the Gospel truly is. As Christians, we are called to do a lot for the Lord and in the midst of trying to serve Him we can get caught up and forget a bigger calling we have. Our greatest challenge is believing the Gospel. I can tend to overcomplicate what God has called me to do, but it’s in those times He reminds me to simply believe in the Gospel and tell others about it. Simply put, we’re called to tell a good story.