The Power of the Story
“Would you tell me a story?” I whispered those words night after night, wiggling beneath the covers as my daddy struggled to get my sister and me to sleep. He always answered with some sort of tale about life in the mountains—making mudpies for his sisters, attending pie suppers, or being stalked by the Wampus cat while gathering cows. I never grew tired of listening to them, and if he grew tired of telling them, he never let on.
“Would you tell me a story?” I jabbered to my next-door neighbor, Carl, while bouncing up and down on his glider swing. He sat beside me and spun a yarn that was so intricate and spooky that I begged him to tell it again—only he made those stories up as he went along. So the retelling included pieces of the original story mixed with some last-minute additions. But I never minded.
I guess I’ve always loved stories—listening to them, reading them, imagining them, telling them, and writing them. It’s no surprise that stories still take up a significant amount of real estate in my brain because they are more than words or people or even plot twists. Stories are windows to truth; they are spaceships, arctic dog sleds, and submarines diving into the limitless depths of the unexplored. I still find myself at the feet of my Heavenly Father begging Him to “tell me a story, Your Story, and explain how I fit into it.”
Do you know what I love about the Bible? It is the story of how the infinite God of the Universe created everything seen and unseen, everything known and unknown, everything imaginable and unimaginable and then created us to be His family. Moses penned the most powerful opening lines ever written: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Darkness...chaos...formlessness...void...in one breath, all that is erased when God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. That introduction starts out with a big bang! (pun intended). And the crowning jewel of His artistic expression was us—man and woman—made out of the dust of the earth and breathed on by God Himself. He lovingly placed these children He created into the perfect setting—the Garden of Eden. Everything they ever wanted and needed was in their grasp. Every evening, God showed up at their door for no other reason than to enjoy their company. It truly was Paradise.
But every good story needs a plot twist, and what would a plot twist be without a villain? They allowed a silver-tongued serpent to convince them that God was holding out on them. That He didn’t have their best interest at heart. That they were free to make their own choices. And here we are in the aftermath of their story, our story, His story.
Like a Master Storyteller, the Holy Spirit foreshadows the coming of One who would make everything right again. A Redeemer, a Head Crusher, a Messiah. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15 NIV).
Page after page, chapter after chapter, book after book, we follow the storyline of this redemption story. It’s woven through each verse. We see shadows of it at the altar of Abraham and Isaac; we walk through the waters of death and come out the other side of the Red Sea; we feel the flames that warmed the three young Hebrew men but couldn’t devour them because the Head Crusher was also the Flame Quencher. And the Promised One showed up in an unlikely time, in an unlikely way, in the most unlikely of places, and transformed the story.
Everyone is born with the undeniable desire to be the hero of their story. We know there is a significance to life—we sense it, even if we are unsure of what it is. This is the reason we celebrate graduation from high school or college as this new adventure—the rising action to a plot twist that leads to a climax of million dollar homes, illustrious careers, boujee cars, and dream vacations. If we can make it to this climax of our story, we’ve arrived. We will be the hero that everyone admires and looks up to.
I’m here to tell you that if you are pursuing that storyline, you will end up on the “out-of-print" list with your story collecting dust in a cardboard box at an old thrift store. Do you know why you view yourself as the protagonist of your story? Do you understand how you can be the main character in every scene you play and re-play in your head? It is because the real hero of the story, the main character, the protagonist to trump all protagonists is crazy about you! His name is Jesus, and He went out of His way, left His perfect home, laid down His birthright to find you and bring you back to Eden. Actually, the amazing thing about this Hero, is He brings Eden to you...it’s called the Kingdom of God. And it’s not a destination; it’s a relationship. Hebrews 12:2 puts it this way, “His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation...”
You were never meant to be the hero of your story. I was never meant to be the hero of my story. Left up to us, our resolution is destruction, despair, and disappointment. We can’t make it back to Eden by ourselves...and that is what we are innately searching for.
St. Augustine prayed in his Confessions, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” He is the missing puzzle piece shrouded in the mystery. He is the hero we didn’t know we needed. And whether or not we recognize it, He is the One who writes our story. The problem is we keep stealing the pen. And I am like a toddler who hasn’t quite mastered the art of fine motor skills. My story consists of scribbles and well-meaning plot lines that resemble a compilation of Shakespeare mingled with Dr. Seuss! They just don’t fit together.
His thoughts are nothing like my thoughts, and His ways are higher than my ways! Why wouldn’t I trust the Master Storyteller to write my story...because when it comes down to it, it’s really His story. I’m just a character that He lovingly chooses to play a vitally important role!
Reflection: God is always writing our story! There is never a time when He is not working behind the scenes, even when we don’t see it or sense it. Make it your goal to look for ways that God is working in your life today to write your story. If you are intentional in looking for those moments, He will intentionally reveal them to you.