Why I Love Story
When I read a book, I am told something about the author. All the lenses and paradigms that the author uses to view life goes into the formation of their ideas and their way of storytelling. If we enjoy a particular author, we research them and gain insight into their upbringing, struggles, successes. We now understand why they are the way they are; why they write the way they do.
Our lives are stories. Unlike a book, however, you can't devour it in a matter of hours. Often times why things are hard to go through is because we can't see past where we are, and we seem to be there forever. The nice thing about a book is that you know it is going to come to a close. When we are "in the thick of it" with our lives, we are often convinced or find it hard to believe that the thick with thin out, that the things that are difficult now will, indeed, come to a close. However, when they do, we are able to see the why's of our hardships and are able to feel better about going through them.
This is because we read our live, our stories, backwards. Because we are human and constrained by a measly two-deminsional timeline, we can only read present and past. In our eyes, the future is "yet to be written." But to a God not constrained by time, He has it laid out, and it's good (check out Jeremiah 29:11). I heard a quote once that said, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." God redeems all. If not in this life, He has all eternity to work it out. He's that good and our stories are that worthy.
Our lives, our stories - the good, bad, beautiful, ugly - should be embraced. Without embracing them, we are saying they aren't good enough works. To say they aren't good enough works is to say God is a bad Author, that He truly isn't, as the Bible refers to Him, the "Author of life." However, just like a book reveals characteristics of its author, so do our lives reveal the true character of the living God. Our stories must be told; all of our stories -the more, the better.
Here's why:
In 2nd grade, I pooped my pants in gym class. We had to line up to leave in alphabetical order by last name and I didn't want to because "L" was in the middle. So I stood back and refused to participate. A couple of the kids at the end of the line were snickering. They could smell me. Now if some of those 2nd graders today were asked to tell someone about Phil, and that's the only story they knew, they wouldn't be able to give an accurate description...thank goodness.
In the same way, to truly gain a better understanding of who God is, we need more stories about Him. The more stories that are told, the more accurate picture of God and His character is attained. As we do so, and experience our own stories with Him that are worth telling, having a "personal relationship with Him" becomes much more meaningful and true.
The following is a video of a youth student from our church. I've been able to witness a lot of this guy's story, and through "the thick of it," it has been hard to see God. Now that we are beginning to read it backwards, it's incredibly evident that God is all through it. I love Dylan's story, and what it tells about God and His desire to rescue. Dylan is writing a beautiful story. Here's just a bit of Dylan's storyline. Hope you are blessed by it.
Can't see the videos? Go here.
