A few years ago, I was taking a walk through my neighborhood. There are about fourteen hundred homes in our neighborhood, so lots of miles to walk. Just a week before, a tornado had dipped into our city leaving behind widespread damage. It was amazing to see the many blocked roads where whole trees and broken limbs had fallen.

As I walked past one house, I noticed that a Bradford pear tree had split in half. The trunk was pretty much intact, but the top part where all the branches were was a mess. Many of the limbs were on the ground. I thought to myself, “They might as well get someone to remove that tree. It is damaged and will never come back to life.”

For several years following the tornado, I continued to walk in the neighborhood. On most occasions, I passed that ugly tree, wishing the homeowners would have it removed. Then, an amazing thing happened as I walked this year. That Bradford pear is now perfectly shaped, and its limbs are full. It is as if the storm never came. The tree looks perfect with the exception of a scar where a limb had once been. The scar covered the broken place; the place of the wound was now healed and the tree flourished again.

The Bradford pear had been broken but was now whole.

Most of us have encountered storms of life, and some of them have left deep wounds. Wounds of abuse. Wounds of deep rejection. Wounds of monetary loss. Wounds of betrayal. Wounds of church hurt. Wounds of assault. Wounds of loss. Wounds of abandonment by the ones we thought we could trust. Wounds of – I could go on and on. Tornadoes come and they are very damaging.

The owners of the broken Bradford pear tree did not give up on it just because it was broken. The Bradford pear did not give up on itself. It continued to drink from the earth and lift its arms to the sunny sky. Faithfully, day after day, the tree hung in there, and now it is one of the healthiest looking trees in the neighborhood. It is beautiful.

Has your life been hit by a tornado? Does your life seem broken and beyond repair? Your brokenness may feel unmendable right now. I have been there. Let me encourage you today – there is a God who spends his days mending broken things. Maybe your brokenness is too deep to put into words. You cannot see past today, and you do not want to face tomorrow. You cannot imagine a way out. The lid has rolled over the opening, and no sunlight peeks through the cracks.

Dear friend, the broken parts of your story don’t make you a broken person. You are still the whole, loved, purpose-filled person God created you to be. The storms that you have endured are not lost on God. Our scars can become powerful testaments of the God who is at work.

Do not give up! Your owner, God, is not giving up on you. Please do not give up on yourself. Our brokenness does not stop the unlimited power of God from working in our behalf. Keep drinking deeply from the fountain of God. Lift those heavy hands towards heaven in surrender. Give God time to restore the broken places. He is working amid the wounds of our stories. One day you will look in the mirror and see the healing power of God.

“‘For I will restore health to you, and I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 30:17. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].” – Psalm 147:3. (AMP)

As a teenager in my local church, there were times I would lead the singing in the worship service. Today, we call it worship leading, but back in the day, it was leading the singing. That was in the sixties, so the time of worship choruses like we sing today were not on the scene. It was good old hymns. While I love much of today’s modern music, I do miss the richness of some of those hymns.

In my spirit today, the hymn “I Love To Tell The Story” began to bubble up. I found myself singing it and loving every word.

I love to tell the story
  Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
  Of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story,
  Because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings
  As nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love

Do you love to tell the story? I do.

I love to tell the story of the things Jesus has done in my life. I love to tell the story of Jesus finding a messed up little girl who lived in the deep south. After so much abuse, poverty, and dysfunction, Jesus found me, and over time He has healed me and set my feet on a solid rock. I love to tell the story!

I love to tell the story of the work of Jesus in my life. When I felt called to stand before people to share the Word of God, I explained to God how it would never work. I was too shy. I was too insecure. Oh, how I love to tell the story of Jesus empowering me to stand before many groups, both large and small, and share the powerful word of God. I love to tell the story!

I love to tell the story of my teenage son who was facing cancer. We had just moved to a new city and within a few months, we would be battling cancer. After surgery and months of therapy, our son was well, or so we thought. After new scans, a new tumor showed up in the very same spot where the original tumor was. The doctor said, “We will need to do surgery again and treat it more aggressively.”  We took it to the Lord in prayer. I love to tell the story that Bryan went back for that second surgery, and the doctor was amazed that the tumor was benign. Bryan never had another cancer cell in his body. I love to tell the story of the great healer!

I love to tell the story of our pastor friends who desperately needed a new sanctuary but did not have the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed. They did not let that stop them from telling the story of Jesus and His love. Each week, they would conduct an outreach to the homeless. Each week, they fed the homeless, clothed the homeless, and told the story of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. One of the homeless men grasped the story of Jesus and His love. That man gave His life to Jesus Christ. He was transformed. A few weeks later the man showed up at the church for worship. He looked like a different person. After the service, he asked the pastor if he could speak with him. As they conversed, the man told the story of how Jesus had changed his life. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a check for one million dollars. No one knew that the man was very wealthy, but life had dealt him blows that caused him to wind up on skid row. Someone told him the story of Jesus and His love. That changed his life and provided the money needed for the new building. I love to tell the story of Jehovah Jireh, the great provider!

Friend, I could go on and on with this blog because I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love. How about you? Do you love to tell the story?

We hear so many sad stories in the news and elsewhere. People need a good news story. Has Jesus saved you, healed you, provided for you, opened doors for you, changed circumstances for you, or made a way? Tell the story!

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3.

As I sat down on Sunday afternoon to write this week’s blog, my mind seemed empty. “Lord, I have nothing. Please give me an idea.”  As I sat for a few minutes staring at a blank screen, my mind began to wander trying to think of something.

A few minutes later a sweet voice came from over my shoulder. It was my grandson Tucker who is visiting for a few days. Tucker is thirteen and lives in North Carolina. Each summer we bring him to Alabama for a week, so we can spend time with him and let him get to know the extended Benton clan.

As I heard the voice over my shoulder, I saw a broad-smiled Tucker. He asked what I was doing, and I explained that I write a weekly blog as part of the ministry to which I am called. He wanted to know more about what a blog is. I explained that I needed to come up with a fresh idea each week, and that sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it is not!

After explaining to Tucker that I like to use real life stories that can have a spiritual application, he said, “I have an idea.”  At this point, I could use an idea from anywhere. Tucker said, “It took me a long time to get to your house. It was a long trip, but it was worth it, because once I am here, I get to spend time with people I love. So, the time in the car was worth it.”

Well, Hallelujah, Tucker Bryan Benton! The journey seems long, but the reward is so worth it. Tucker was content on the journey.

Tucker accepted the journey he was on and knew that the journey would take him to fresh joys, deepening relationships, and new adventures. Unless Tucker stayed on the journey, he would have missed the blessings that came his way. Tucker learned to be content on the journey.

The apostle Paul understood that life is a trip, and the destination is heaven. On the journey, Paul encountered times on top of the mountain, and times shackled in the dungeon. Yet, Paul offered this advice, “Learn to be content.”

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)

Philippians teaches us that God wants us to embrace where we are in life right now. Live the life we have right now. Learn to be content. And here is the crucial part, these things can only be accomplished by walking with Jesus who gives us the strength to do this wherever we find ourselves in life’s journey.

Sometimes I have had barely enough money to make ends meet. Sometimes, I have been blessed with a surplus. Sometimes, I have so much joy up on the hilltop. “I am queen of the hill.” I have been in the deepest of valleys, especially the valley of grief. My husband has been the pastor of small congregations where we did almost everything. My husband has also been the pastor of larger churches where we were blessed with staff members who could help with the ministry. I have lived in a literal shack with no bathroom. I have also lived in a home with three bathrooms. Life has all kinds of changes, some unexpected.

Being content does not mean we cannot desire that things be different. We can be content being single and still desire to be married. We can be content in our jobs and still desire different ones. We can be content in whatever season we are and still desire something to be different, something to turn around.

Paul said that he learned to be content. Contentment is not necessarily a natural thing. A contented spirit is not bound by circumstances. Because contentment works from the inside out it is insulated from the ever-changing circumstances outside of us.

So many of us, including me, have spent enough time living in a world of discontentment. According to the Apostle Paul, we can learn to be content amid circumstances that are not those we would have chosen. Our part is to make a choice to be content, God’s part to enable us to walk it out by His power. I want to live a life of contentment. How about you? Join me in a commitment to learn to walk in contentment even in a world where so many live in discontentment.