We’re Telling His Story
by Joanne Viola, Lulu Tree Treasurer
It was on an early morning in August that I sat looking out at the water, which is perfectly still and calm. At first it was like a sheet of glass, then the little ripples began to gently slosh against the dock. The sound is comforting and can lull one back to sleep, if it were not for the astounding beauty which has now caught my attention.
The mountains spread round about me and the clouds are layered and puffy, floating by ever so slowly. They rise and fall, rolling gently, the peaks at varied heights.
In the midst of soaking it all in, the Scripture passes through my thoughts:
“Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.” (Psalm 125:2, NLT)
The realization hits me that our Lord is surrounding me at the same time He is surrounding my brothers and sisters in Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Liberia.
There has never been a day the Lord has not surrounded His people everywhere throughout all of time.
It’s been weeks now since that morning and the memory, and the Scripture, have lingered in my thoughts, prompting me to pray for my brothers and sisters.
The Lulu Tree has felt compelled to come alongside pastors, committing to teach and root them in God’s Word through the diligent study of Scripture.
The shift has brought us to our knees to pray for them as they study and take exams. We know the Lord is using them to bring the Gospel to a hundred nearby surrounding villages, many who have never yet heard.
John, one of Jesus’ disciples, in fact – the beloved disciple as he called himself, always wanted to be close to Jesus. John knew Jesus intimately and his gospel introduces us to Jesus’ words in a way to make us long for greater faith.
It is in his gospel we find more of the words of Jesus, recorded and preserved for all time. Every story shared so its readers will be drawn to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. Each story told for the purpose of proving Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
It is the last verse in John’s gospel which has drawn my attention for some time. It is in those closing words John lets us all know the story of Jesus is larger than anything he could write or describe. The days of Jesus far exceed any day we could even imagine. The stories of the days of Jesus could not be contained in any small manner, for they are greater than our minds could comprehend.
“Jesus also did many other things, If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, NLT)
Even now as the varied pastors, men, and teen mamas read and learn from the curriculum, we cannot imagine how much Jesus will do.
Even now, we cannot imagine all the stories yet being added to the many stories which books still cannot contain. Our stories become a small sliver of His story, and this is why we must tell The Story, till we all have the story of Jesus written on our hearts.
“Tell me the story of Jesus,
write on my heart every word;
tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard.”
(words from the old hymn, Tell Me the Story of Jesus by Fanny Crosby)