Tell Them a Story

Tell Them a Story
By: Brittany Shields

‘Tell me a story,’ she says.  

My three and five year old daughters love wolf stories. The wolf can be good or bad. They don’t care as long as there is a wolf.  

We tell our kids lots of stories. And they always have happy endings right? Our kids are susceptible to fear and sadness and we try to avoid those emotions for them.  

But there are some stories we need to tell our children. Truths they need to hear.  

In fact, God commands it. 

Look at Joshua.  

Joshua and the Israelites finally got to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  

A not so ordinary feat. 

The Israelites had endured slavery in Egypt for many years. God raised up Moses and in an amazing series of plagues God rained down on the Egyptians, God delivered the Israelites from their bondage.  

He guided them with fire and shade. He parted the waters and they walked on dry ground.  

Yet because of their fear and unbelief the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years.  

Finally, when the time came for Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land, the Lord parted the waters again, and they walked on dry ground once more.  

God told his people to take twelve stones— one for each tribe— and stack them together. A sign of remembrance.  

Joshua said to them, “When your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ you shall let your children know ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’” 

This stacking of stones is often called an ebenezer-- meaning ‘stone of help.’ A tangible reminder of God’s divine hand.  

I wonder what that would've been like for the Israelites to recount those stories to their children. Slavery and wilderness wandering. Years of hardship. Seasons of spiritual drought and doubt. God finally delivering them only to eat manna and be delayed their inheritance.  

But what a powerful testimony to the power and faithfulness of God.  

God rescued them. In a pretty amazing way. He provided for them even as they grumbled. And he still gave them the promised land. God kept his promises.  

The journey wasn’t what they would have written for themselves, but as they placed those stones on that ebenezer, you can bet their minds were on that parted Red Sea. That momentous deliverance.  

These are the stories we need to tell our children.  

We have all experienced hardships and times of doubt. We’ve all cried our share of tears. We’ve wondered if God really cares.  

And when we look back, we see God’s faithfulness and His provision. We remember the bondage to our sinful nature that God rescued us from. He gave us life!  

Our children need to hear these stories. They need to see that God is faithful in the struggle. That there is joy in the tears. There is dry ground amid the raging waters. There is love in the refining fire of our trials and we are not alone.  

Build your ebenezer. Tell your children the stories of those stones. The heavy ones you could never have borne alone. The beautiful ones unearthed from the mire.  

I love the bridge of Christ Renzema’s song, ‘Just As Good’: 

“And I will build an altar 
And stack it stone by stone 
’Cause every Ebenezer says I’ve never been alone 
My faith will surely falter 
But that don’t change what You’ve done 
’Cause every Ebenezer points to where my help comes from.” 

It is so easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day routines of working and parenting and telling wolf stories! How often we forget where we’ve come from. Our faith wavers.  

The present is daunting, our perspective despairing, our view of God disappearing.  

Our faith may falter but we look at our stacked stones and we remember. We remember.  

Our God is there. He always was. And He always will be.  

The Bible is full of references to that Red Sea deliverance.  
‘Remember what I did for you!’ God says.  

The rescue from slavery foretold our ultimate deliverance in the cross of Christ. We are free from our sin. We are free from our fears. We are free in Christ. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin and conquered death to bring us life.  

‘Remember what I did for you!’ He says.  

There are some things we should shield our children from. But we cannot shield them from the very thing that will save them. We must tell them the weight of their sin. The stones they may have to carry—with God’s help. That God is strong when they are weak. 

We must tell them so they can celebrate the path that God has parted for them to walk through. They need to hear it from us. We need to herald the good news of God’s faithfulness, his presence, his salvation, his love.  

Build your altar. Stack it stone by stone.  

And tell your kids a story.  

Share this blog post to your social media!