“Whether or not we
see it, we've each been invited to participate in the love story of
God. We each have something to contribute. We have good works to live
out, deeds prepared a long time ago in a Kingdom close at hand.”
{Jaime George, Poets and Saints}
When was it that I first realized that
I was part of a plot line? It was Shakespeare who coined the term,
“All the world is a stage.” I remember the passion of reading
through literary texts in college ranging from Dante's Inferno to
The Confidence Man as well as folklore from around the world.
My journey through literature had
brought me along vast terrains. Yet despite the diversity of
landscapes, I couldn't help but find a thread of the gospel story
weaved throughout cultures, traditions, and worldviews.
I had a professor for a course called
Advanced Elements of Argument, who constantly challenged the
Christian perspective as we had read through various works. Boldly I
returned the challenge, daring him to find the spiritual
meta-narrative within the texts. How often one finds it there,
between the lines, man's confession of his need for God—no man is
set apart from the search for truth and revelation of the divine—not even
the atheist.
In everything I have read, I visualize
it is as if a large canvas or a tapestry is laid out showing how the
God story is interwoven through every narrative. Just as you can see
yourself within the pages of a fantastic work of fiction, I began to
see myself as a player in the love story of my God.
I realized that I was a character
alongside the saints of old; and it changed my perspective on the
events of my life. The setting of my terrain appeared to be
intentional, planned even, as if a narrator had penciled me in. The
conflicts of my story line developed with deeper meaning. The
climactic elements, when I found myself treading upon rocky cliffs,
gave birth to hope that the story has a purposeful and even
prosperous resolution.
Do you know that God's story for you
began long before you were born? Since His creation of the first man
and woman, God had the most wonderful plan for his children to dwell
with him, to live in relationship with him.
The Bible says that God created you in Christ Jesus to do good works—to live your poema—He planned them for you long ago (Eph 2:10). For He who has begun a good work in you will see it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). He is the author and finisher of your faith (Heb 12:2).
The Bible says that God created you in Christ Jesus to do good works—to live your poema—He planned them for you long ago (Eph 2:10). For He who has begun a good work in you will see it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). He is the author and finisher of your faith (Heb 12:2).
Maybe you feel, because of the
chapter you are in (or the one you just came out of), that your story
is too much of a mess. But if you have received Christ in your heart
then He has already written the rest of your story. God wrote the perfect
resolution to the conflict of humanity: Jesus Christ. He has a plan for your story line; everyday is written in His book (Ps 139:16). He's just waiting for you to jump right in.
Will you say yes to God today? Invite
Him into your story and watch new miracles unfold.
