By Scott Box

You are the test audience, dear reader, and I need your help—Please provide feedback.

Below are “7 Questions” that can help you tell a gritty story (about mental health) that tells a heroic story about Jesus—aJesusStory. aJesusStory is the outcome of living a lifestyle as a heroic worshiper of Jesus. Rather than providing tasks or directives, these questions are designed to speak to your hopes and dreams and awaken a longing within you to identify, shape and release your gritty story to others—to experience your story’s extraordinary power for your health and the health of others. 

1. What crisis or mess in my life is forcing me to ask, “Who is in control?”

Purpose: This question draws my attention to my crises and moments of desperation where God’s redemptive work begins. It roots my story in reality, acknowledging my pain and anxiety.

2. Does Jesus see Himself in the W.A.R.S. of my life—my words, actions, relationships and situations?

Purpose: This question bridges the cosmic and the mundane. It asks me to examine my daily life and whether my worship reflects Christ in all areas.

3. How do I hope when crisis surrounds me, and what do I expect God to do when He has to come through?

Purpose: This invites me to reflect on the hope and expectation that drives my faith even in hard times.

4. What are the things I control that push back chaos and bring order to life?

Purpose: This question reminds me of my agency in reflecting Jesus by bringing order to my life and community through discipline and obedience.

5. Do I allow God to “make healthy what He doesn’t heal?”

Purpose: This question focuses on how God’s power and story are at work, even in my unresolved pain.

6. Whose life will be influenced if they know my story, and who will suffer if I keep silent?

Purpose: This question makes me feel urgent about sharing my story. It reminds me that my testimony has the power to change my life and the lives of others.

7- Does my life awaken a longing in others for Jesus, and how does my story fit into Jesus’ heroic story?

Purpose: This question ties everything together, prompting me to see my life as part of God’s cosmic heroic narrative and inspiring me to declare my story.

I have designed this flow of questions to blend Jesus’ heroic narrative with practical life. The questions move me from self-reflection into outward action. The “7 Questions” framework reminds me that my life can be filled with heroic acts of worship that culminate in the powerful declaration of what I call, aJesusStory. “Telling my gritty story to tell a heroic story about Jesus” gives meaning to my pain and helps me lock down God’s purpose for my life. 

I hope the “7 Questions” tool excites you and causes you to consider the power your story has to help you as much as it has to help others. Even your most graphic crisis can transform your worship of Jesus Christ, the Great Hero, into a form of worship that tells a heroic story about Jesus. Desperation for Jesus drove me into hopeful dependence on Jesus. I’ll share more about how desperation intersects with heroic worship next month. 

In the meantime, please review these questions and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Also, to guide your thinking about the “7 Questions” even more, consider asking yourself the following: 

• What question is the most difficult for you to answer honestly?
• What question do you want to ask a friend or family member? 
• What question will you ask yourself every day for the next week/month? 

“Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”—John 4:39-42 MSG

Scott and Kariann Box live in Redmond, Oregon. Scott serves as Pastor of Development at Shiloh Ranch Church and has been a worship leader for over twenty-five years. Kariann works as a Realtor in Central Oregon and supports Scott’s…creative spirit. They have two children, a one-hundred-pound Labradoodle and a four-pound Shih Tzu without teeth. Scott is the author of HEROIC DISGRACE: Order out of chaos. Hope out of fear. ― A Worship Hero Story 

by Peggy Rice

I recently got new hearing aids. I’d had my old ones for a little over 7 years. Since that time, the technology and design of hearing aids had changed, improved. While mine still worked, there were features that would help my hearing that the current pair just didn’t offer. And my current pair was finally to that age where it wasn’t going to be able to keep up with my hearing loss as I grow older. The original pair was designed for low to mid loss, but my hearing loss is moving to lower levels, more severe loss. I needed a tool that would keep up with me for the years to come.

My new hearing aids are rechargeable. No more pinkie-nail-sized batteries to replace every week. Now, I just put the bases of the aids in little slots in the box, and a blinky light comes on, telling me that they’re charging. Long before I get up the next morning, they’re ready to go.

As I take them from the charger and put them in my ears, there’s a little chime that sounds from them – they’re on. And I can check the app on my phone to make sure both are at capacity and the volume is adjusted correctly.

It’s amazing to me – all that I can hear when I put them in my ears. Sounds I didn’t even realize I was missing!

If the windows are open, I can hear our fountain in the back yard, gurgling and bubbling. I can hear birds chirping at the feeder. I can hear cars driving down the street. As I move into the kitchen, I can hear the dishwasher running. I can hear my cat Henry, who has the quietest “Mew,” as he greets me. All these sounds were silent to me, before I put in my hearing aids.

I think there’s a parallel here, with hearing what God has to say to me. How do I hear Him, especially since He often speaks in a “still, small voice” (I Kings 19:12, KJV)? Some translations say “a gentle whisper.” What are my “hearing aids,” that let me hear God’s voice?

A steady intake of God’s Word is the first “hearing aid.” If I want to know what God says, I need to read His Word and learn His will. I need to know about His character and the things that please Him. I will be able to live the way God calls me to live, if I know what it is, and I do that by being reading the Bible daily.

There are lots of ways to do that – simply pick up a Bible and start reading! But to be honest, I am more consistent if I follow a plan, so I read devotionals and Bible plans on my Bible app (the YouVersion Bible App is my favorite – you can find it at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store). This tool even opens to a daily verse and short devotional, followed by guided prayer. And it’s on my phone – right at my fingertips!

There are also a gazillion devotionals available, on this app, or at the library or bookstores. Several that I’m using now are Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling and Jesus Today, and Paul David Tripp’s New Morning Mercies. There’s the classic by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. In fact, many respected Christian authors, preachers, and teachers have written devotionals. Just pick one that includes Scripture – that is not just the authors’ thoughts. The point here is to be reading God’s Word.

Ok, so reading God’s Word consistently in one “hearing aid.” Another is worship. And worship is not just singing songs. It’s about focusing on who God is – His character, His attributes – and praising Him for those. It’s not about asking for things. It’s about God. Taking time to get to know who He is. And, surprise, surprise, that takes me back to “hearing aid” one, because I’m going to learn about God by reading His Word!

Listening to Christian music – my own playlists or the local Christian radio station, help me in this area throughout the week. And on the weekends, worshiping in a church with other believers is a great way to recharge my “hearing aid” – corporate worship is so uplifting!

A third “hearing aid” is being with a community of Christian believers. Spending time around people who love the Lord and long to put Him first in their lives rubs off on me. I am challenged, and encouraged, and supported in a group of fellow Christians. For me, I get this through my Fresh Hope Support Group – these are folks who, like me, face a mental health challenge – either their own, or a loved one’s – and we meet regularly to share stories and prayer requests and discuss God’s working in our lives as we walk this mental health journey. To find a Fresh Hope Support Group, check out freshhope.us, and look for a group in your area or one that meets online.

I also participate in a Women’s Bible Study at my church, and a weekly prayer group, as ways to find support in Christian community. Again, there are all kinds of resources online, if you can’t find them in your local community.

My “hearing aids” for hearing God: consistent Bible reading, worshiping God for who He is, and Christian community. These tools allow me to know what God says – about Himself, about how He sees me, about how He wants me to show my love to others. I learn to hear Him, in His “gentle whisper,” as He works in my life to shape me to look more and more like Jesus.

Peggy has been involved with Fresh Hope as a Group Facilitator for 5 years and as the Hope Coach trainer for 3. You can reach her at peggy@freshhope.us