One generation will praise Your works to another, And will declare Your mighty acts. (Psalms 145:4 NASB)
We are all in debt to Christ for his marvelous grace and the previous generation who told us about that grace. We, in turn, pay our indebtedness by telling the next generation about God’s unmerited favor. We all have a story to tell.
As I wrote my first manuscript, I was plagued by recurring thoughts. Reflections would linger in my mind; Who are you to write a book? What do you have to say? Nobody is going to want to read your book. As I dwelt on these notions, I didn’t feel like I could write a sentence, much less a book. Nonetheless, I wrote it for my grandchildren and those who would follow, as a remembrance of life, but more importantly, about the God that I served.
The main problem we have is that we think we have no story to tell. C.S. Lewis once said that “there are no ordinary people.” We think that we have nothing to say because we have never been a pastor or a missionary. We conclude that because we have never been delivered from a great sin—just a bunch of little ones, that we have nothing interesting enough to share. Wrong. God most often shows up in the small details of our lives. It is in the fine print of our lives that God proves his faithfulness.
If God has redeemed your life and given you beauty for ashes, you have a story to tell. An experience is never really fully enjoyed until it is shared with someone. Some may communicate it verbally, others through written language, but we all must praise God's works from one generation to another.