1 Tell Me a Story Introduction

Tell Me a Story
#11 in the Series: Daddy, It's Me--
Conversations of an Ordinary Person with an Extraordinary Heavenly Father

(This blog was posted out of order...I hit the wrong button out of frustration, then in the process of trying to post it in order it seems to have reposted itself...still out of order!  So I am trying again to get it  in the correct order...sorry for the confusion.  Hmmm, maybe the Lord has a reason for some of you to read it thrice!  And maybe some of you missed the other times.  After all "all things do work together for good.  Maybe this is its own parable!  Ha!)


Just a few short weeks ago I gave you a list of ways I felt like God uses to communicate…ways that I have experienced.  It has taken ten articles to skim the cream from the top of number one in that list: His Word.

Next I want to share another of my favorite ways that God communicates:  through parables from nature or daily life.  A parable is simply a story with a surface meaning and a deeper meaning.  In fact rabbis define four levels of meaning for stories in scripture:

1. The simple or surface meaning
2. The implied meaning
3. The deeper meaning
4. The hidden meaning

(Are you seeing where meditating comes in again?)

 Jesus often talked in parables.

“He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

But why would God choose this method:

“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭78:1-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Storytelling has a lot of benefits:

• The best stories are those to which the audience can relate
• Therefore it is interesting and
• It captures the audience’s attention
• Which leads to greater retention of the concepts.
• People who are ready for the deeper meanings will “get it” while others will be entertained.
• It is a great way to train or educate future generations.

Much of the Bible is written in a storytelling format and within the stories are deeper meanings when we look for them. This is where commentaries and devotionals can sometime shed more light especially as they connect distant events and give color and background that flesh out the story.  The storytelling format also leaves room for a variety of interpretations and applications depending on what parts we are looking at.  So, don’t be concerned if you don’t “get” what someone else got…perhaps the Lord is speaking something different to you.

Within scripture—and especially the parables of Jesus—are many references to things in nature.  God still uses nature to tell his story.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.”

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I love it when God puts a spotlight (figuratively and sometimes physically) on something in nature or my life that makes me think and meditate on it in relationship to him, his word or principles, precepts and commands.  I have already shared a few of these with you but I would like to share some recent ones in the next few weeks…And I am sure more parables will come up as we continue on this journey to free your mustang heart.

P.S.  If you are finding these articles helpful, please leave me a comment or send me an email and share freely on your social media.  Thanks!