I suspect that many aren't very happy with their story. Let's face it, most of us don't have stories where we'll have to wonder who will play us in the movie, and whether we have played the hero or the villain or the victim, if we've been the star of our own story and our own show, we probably haven't been very content or satisfied. In fact, it's a miserable way to live. Regardless, we all have our own story, and they are all pretty similar, we are all born, and we are all going to leave these bodies behind at some point. They are also all unique. No one else's story is quite like our own. We may have a lot of similarities, but your story can't ever be the same as someone else's, and no one else can ever quite tell the same story with their life that you were made to tell. And the truth is, whether we are extroverts or introverts, show offs or wall flowers, want everyone to know who we are and our story or hope we aren't even notices, or somewhere between those two extremes, we are telling and living out the story of our lives every day.
The question is who is writing it? And is it going to be worth knowing when it's done? If we are writing the story, it usually goes off the rails, gets stuck, the hero turns our to be a jerk at best, a true villain at the worst. the protagonist is just too selfish and narcissistic to be inspiring or someone to root for, and the story just never seems to be as satisfying, worth the time or as feel good as we would have hoped, no matter how many of the plot points we dream about come true.
Perhaps you think the tale is told, but it's not. And no matter how wonderful and exciting or awful or boring your story has been up to this point, it can be amazing, so amazing that it can be used to help others and defeat the spiritual enemies of God. We overcome the enemy by the word of our testimony, that would be our story, and the blood of the Lamb, that would be what Jesus did. But to have an awesome story, to have our tale be an amazing and unique reflection of and demonstration of God's love, power, and glory, we can't be the star of the show any longer, nor can we be the author. If we're honest, we know the truth, and the truth is that we are hacks.
We're always trying to impress, manipulate the audience, copy someone else's work, get attention the wrong way at the wrong time, using poor pacing and getting the timing wrong, and all kinds of mistakes that just keep the story from being very good or satisfying. At the very least, whether writing a hero or villain or anti-hero, our protagonist's motivation is all wrong. That's because we were never meant to be the star. We were created and cast in the supporting role, to help shine the light and put the attention on the real star of the show, Jesus.
It doesn't matter if you're proud of your story, it hasn't been all that bad. You were born, got mostly good grades, never got into real trouble, got a decent job and handled your business, perhaps with some success, and to make it even better there was love and marriage and kids, and as long as no one looks too closely it all looks pretty shiny and good. Or maybe you're ashamed of your story and your tale is full of mistakes, horrible choices, disaster, suffering, sorrow and ugliness. It doesn't matter, because until the Lord is the star, our story is not good enough to satisfy, and once He is the star, no story is too bad or boring and poorly written to keep it from being awesome and amazing. And it isn't done as long as we are still breathing.
The truth is that none of us has been a true hero, nor a true villain. We have all been the victim and able to justify our evil because of our past, and we have all been the user and the abuser and manipulator who took advantage of others for our own selfish ends. We have all made good choices and bad. We have all wanted better. We all have chapters we wish no one knew about or hope no one knows, and there are things we're proud of. The best of us have not been good enough to be the star, and the worst of us are not beyond redemption or hope. And most of us fall somewhere between the extremes.
Whether you are exactly where you always wanted to be or thought you'd be at this point in your story, or your tale twisted off a long time ago and you have no idea where it's going from here, but you wish it was different, the past pages can't be undone, but what they are preludes to and what they mean can totally change. No matter how sick, sad, or unsatisfying the tale has been up to this point, the low can just be that much more inspiring to others as we transform by grace into the new creation we were always meant to be. Let God be the author, and the story will be exciting and worth living as well as worth telling, and it will help someone, somewhere, know that their story can be rewritten too. Does your past show nothing more than your constantly, whether barely or by a bunch, falling short, or are the chapters before today just part of a unique and victorious redemption story? It's up to you. Let God have the pen, and the tale will be worth living and full of freedom, peace, joy, and most of all love.
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