This Tangled Story: James Tealy

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.    Genesis 22: 8

People come up at concerts and worship events to tell me the grandest stories. Perhaps it is because I tell stories too. In the company of a storyteller, people feel brave to unveil their untamed narratives with gallant characters and impossible odds. They always use too many superlatives like a painter that has only brash colors on his palate, choosing crimson when red would do. And I eat it up.

When people ask me what I do for a living I always answer, “I travel.” It’s the easiest way to sum up the mad mix of concerts, speaking, worship leadership, songwriting, and teaching. I am a Christ-follower. Perhaps the term “Christ-chaser” would be more real to my story. Not that He is elusive or has escaped me but that Christ is ever in front of me and the pace of my passion for Him is quick these days.

I don’t simply tell my stories, I tell our story.  In my chasing after Christ I have come to believe that we are all apart of His story. We are living out the narrative that began with the powerful first line, “In the beginning…” (Genesis 1:1) and ends with members of every people group on earth shouting together, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10). I see my own story tangled together with the stories of Abraham, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Daniel. When I read the stories of Mary and Martha, Paul and Timothy, John and Peter, I see myself and my friends as we partner together to express the transforming hope we've found in Jesus. When someone comes up to tell me their story, I hear echoes of the grand narratives of scripture. I see the way God is continuing to write His love on our hearts and the way He continues to tangle our stories together for His glory.

Take a moment to read Genesis 22:1-14 and marvel at the way even from the beginning of recorded history, God was drawing together the elements of the narrative that would culminate at the cross: a unique son, carrying a heavy load to the place of sacrifice. Notice in verse 8 that Abraham makes the bold reassurance to his son, "God himself will provide the lamb." In this story of sacrifice, did God provide a lamb? Look at verse 13 again. In fact, the sentence that Abraham speaks here in Genesis 22 actually ends with an exclamation point in the Gospel of John. Read John 1:29-40. God DID provide a lamb for the sacrifice. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes way the sins of the world.

The Word of God is a living and active and as we chase after Christ we find our story tangled with His. If you'll commit yourself to reading the Bible regularly, you will not only find the way your story is connected to God's grand epic, but His story will actually begin to transform yours. Gallantry in the face of impossible odds, and the untamed power of a crimson sacrifice. That's His story. That's our story.

Lord, I’m grateful that you and I are writing my story together. Please give me a sensitive ear to hear Your voice, and an obedient heart to follow You, so that the two of us may “go on together.”