You know when you’ve read a good story. The more you love stories, the more tickled you will be when you find a well-written story and characters. There is just something about going on that journey with these characters. But while you may go through all the adventures “with them,” you get to see everything from a different perspective than the characters themselves do. You get to see and know some things that they don’t. You know everything’s going to be okay eventually, but sometimes the characters won’t know that.
Do you feel a metaphor coming on?
Sometimes you can think of life as people’s stories. God is in control, so He writes the stories. Yes, life is different than a book since we all have free will and the Author lets us choose how we’re going to respond, but because God stands outside of time, He knows what decisions we made, make, and will make.
But let’s move on to what I’m trying to get at. To develop a character, the character’s situation must change. The character must be pushed and tested. The character must have opportunity to learn, and to respond to a new situation or set of circumstances. Some of the best stories have some of the saddest and most difficult story lines for the characters to experience. Everything goes horribly wrong and needs to be set straight. Doubts arise. The characters discover their own limitations, realizing that they can’t fix this by themselves. They need help. So they go get it. There are certain realizations and developments needed before a character can move forward in their story.
Isn’t that like God pushing us through life? God has a character in mind. He knows who you are and who you are supposed to be by the end of the epic story He has in mind for you. But you won’t go further until you have developed. You won’t have an epic story or be any better in character by the end if you don’t let God test you.
But you can get help from the Author Himself. He loves to be very involved in your story. I mean, why not? He made you. God wouldn’t bother even making you and your story if He didn’t care. He can and will give help if you ask. He may not help you in the way you think He will, but there will be help and it will be good. There’s another point in a good story: The Author always has some wonderful surprises!
Go live God’s story for you. You can’t skip ahead in this one! Read it as it comes and experience the love and joy God has written on these pages. Even in the dark times there are special pieces of love and joy to be found. You’ll even cross paths with the stories of countless other people! You might even get to see how each one’s story goes for a while!