The Never Ending Story of God

Stories are powerful mechanisms and ways of how to live, in fact it was Jesus who probably invented the notion of ‘story’ through his famous parables. A few of them stick out in my mind- The Good Samaritan, the lost son, the lost sheep, the mustard seed, the rich fool, the unforgiving servant, the wedding feast, the sower...there are hundreds of parables Jesus told. Each one of them, the earliest form of a story, also maybe have crept their way into the folklore of today’s society. May be a different name, different characters, and a different time period or person who officially ‘wrote’ and ‘thought of the idea’, but essentially it’s the same concept and notion of what these type of stories do to people and their psyche. The difference about Jesus’ stories and those of today’s society, is that He spoke about what the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be about, in the basic language where his disciples would understand. That is what I believe is the beauty of stories, is that they can speak to the very heart of what is human, no matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, when you hear a good story, whether it is in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese or just plain Aussie, you will be touched to the bone and afterwards things will never be the same again for a very long time. In whatever language they are written, stories potential have the power to change lives- and none does it better than such stories, true ones in fact, from the Word of God.

In what way would you learn the most? Listen to a boring lecture in university on atoms and neutron scattering, or to watch a riveting movie with a good and meaningful plot (Movies are just stories on screen, stories made for the eyes, those who cannot sit and concentrate on a good read)? Or how about a dive into a suspenseful mystery with ethical morals, with characters posing questions of the beginning of the universe? Would that win in amount learnt over a stressful job as a financial analyst? Would you rather spend another mundane day at the office, or wishing for a break to come in the passion that you really love? Now I’m not knocking what people do, as some people may get a kick and sense of satisfaction out of these things, but the majority of the people in this world prefer listening, watching, and dreaming of stories, rather than doing the real jobs...I mean let’s face it, would you rather change the world as a fireman, or a journalist? A doctor or an actor? An international speaker or a stockbroker? There are the jobs that everyone loves, and the jobs that only the minority loves. But underneath all of the denial, the stress, the working long hours, doing it all for the family thing, under all of that insecurity that many of you may be feeling, all you need and want is a story for you to unfold in your life that make you feel that for once in your life you are alive for a reason that goes beyond the normal and the ordinary.

And let me tell you, God has a purpose for you. Yes, you, who may feel insecure, unsure of yourself, and have low self-esteem, but that, will not matter to God. God can use even the littlest of people to make a real difference in this world. Look at all of these factual stories in the Bible and the people that God used to further His kingdom- Moses, Jonah, Daniel, Samuel, Noah, Abraham, David, Ezekiel, Hezekiah, Solomon, Ester, Job, Gideon, Ruth, Samson, Peter, even Paul had a grand role to play in the ‘story’ of God that never began and will never end. I nearly fell off my chair when international speaker and pastor Louie Giglio spoke that definition of 'story', in a DVD that I recently bought. A story with no beginning or no end? That’s the kind of story that I’m talking about. One to reflect God’s glory, his majesty, and ultimate purpose in everyone’s life. The big story that is filled up with all of the little stories of Christians playing a part, (not the main, because that belongs to God and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity), but Christians all play minor roles in fulfilling God’s major plan for everyone here on this planet. But isn’t a story something that is completely fiction, I mean it could never happen in reality, right? I used to think for myself that that was true. But then I found out the various meanings of ‘story’. According to Encarta, one of the meanings of the word ‘story’ is a factual or fictional account of an event or series of events.

That means the story of God, unfolding around all of us, can happen to everyone, in fact anyone can join it at anytime, and God doesn’t place any restrictions on the number of characters in the story, nor the number of chapters. No matter what you’ve been through or where you’re at in your life emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually, God can rescue you, your leading role in your me-story that ends (yes, everyone does die); and you can join the never ending story. Just like how one can become lost in the stories made by this world, by many successful and prolific authors, and not realise that the story only lasts until one finishes the book and read the words ‘The End’, or until you get sick of reading the book and come back to it in a couple of years; as humans we can also become lost in a belief that the story we’re starring in (the me-centred story) is the major story and that there is not other and that if there is, it absolutely cannot compare to the one we’re involved in. But there is in fact a story that is the greatest above all stories, the story of Jesus Christ, dying on a tree, so that he can give us all new life and the opportunity for us to join the grand story that never ends. And the good thing is that you can come and enter God’s story no matter where you’re at, no matter if you think you’re not good enough, God will meet you where you’re at.

Stories are desired for more than ever in this society, we yearn to know what the future holds, and not from the droning voice of someone called ‘mum’, or ‘dad’, or ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa’. But when it’s from friends, we’re all ears, even if it is total useless advice. When we hear an affirmation of our characteristics and qualities from our favourite story and novel or movie, and then we often wonder if it is by chance or coincidence, or is there someone orchestrating it all behind the scenes? People yearn for their stories to be unique and not like something out of the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ book, not something cliché. Let me tell you though- not having a cliché life and being part of God’s story is not something out of a fairytale, that once you’re in, you’re bullet-proof kind of thing...rather the opposite. I have often found that since after being a Christian, the bombs and missiles come at you harder, and the wolves target each sheep at his or her own weaknesses- their own temptations, struggles and issues at life, and there are times as a Christian where it has been harder to go the opposite way, to see potential friends laughing at your expense because you are a Christian. Times in your life where you’ve felt as if giving up was the right option, as if God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit deserted, abandoned and forsook you. Believe me, the Christian life wasn’t supposed to be easy. Sometimes we do not know what to do, and we need revelations of direction of what to do in our lives, to try to make our story as best possible so that God can use us, shape us and mould us into the people he wants us to be.

Look at Moses, a murderer at age 40, only at 80 he was called by God, in the form of a burning bush, to go back to Pharaoh and demand him to let God’s people go. I’ll bet he was shaking all over, trying to talk his way out of it, or if it was in today’s time, he’d be going to his therapist or doctor just in case he ate some magic mushrooms or something like that. Or how about Job; his life was not smooth at all and in complete and utter disarray. His livestock and family left him for dead, literally, and Satan gave him boils on his body, yet he still praised God. Jonah was swallowed by a whale after he took his ‘story’ and wanted to trade his small role for a starring lead; and Abraham, slept with his mistress, trying to control his sperm and have a kid at age 100 as he didn’t want to face up to the fact that his wife was barren. How about Peter, faithful disciple to Jesus who denied him 3 times just before Jesus’ death, or Samson, who wanted to please God as well as his mistress Delilah? Paul, former Christian hater prior to his conversion, when he became blind through God showing his presence in the form of the brightest light in history, didn’t also receive a smooth transition into Christian life either. See, he was prone to fights, as he and Barnabas agreed to disagree, and they parted ways soon after Paul started his ministry- he joined Silas soon afterwards and I guess everyone may know the story of Paul and Silas in jail. David wrote most of the Psalms when he was in the pits of despair and he succumbed and submitted to his temptation of adultery when he slept with Bathsheba, a married woman, and gave the orders, for her husband, who died in battle shortly after, to be placed in the front line of attack. Solomon, while very wise, still doubted God’s promises, so much so he wrote a whole book about it called Ecclesiastes, and later on in his life he was heavily involved in idol worship, as he married 700 women and slept with 300 more on the side (No, I’m not kidding!). Now, when I tell you about all of these bible characters, these men and women who lived and breathed in history, having all of these fears, doubts and temptations long after they chose to follow God, what hope does that leave us all? None at all, I tell you. Just because we are part of the flock doesn’t mean that we have a bubble around us that the wolves cannot get to. Quite the opposite, as being part of the flock is vulnerable, is scary, but we know we are in safe hands and we have a Shepherd who will go to the ends of the earth if one of us is lost, and will never leave us or abandon us. 

However, sometimes in this grandiose story of God, we do feel terrible and some days are worse than others. Just part of the Christian walk, what I have learnt to do is to call upon God, as His ways are all more powerful and make more sense than our ways. Just because we may not understand what He is doing in our lives at a particular time doesn’t mean our ‘story’ in God’s never ending one is in jeopardy, nor does it mean that we should give up and accept that God wants no part of our lives in His. Instead of this negative attitude, that I reckon is given to us by the deceivers of our society, what I reckon is what we ought to do is to question Him in a way that says, “OK God, I do not know all the answers, I do not know how I got into this mess, and I do not know how You’re going to pull me out of this, but I’m going to trust You from here until eternity, and let You do Your thing, and show me what to do.” After all, what do you think an epiphany is? Yes, that’s right, God giving us clarity and direction, guidance, and a heads-up on how our ‘story’ would be turning out if we head down a particular road. We all need a revelation once in a while. We all need a heads-up. There will be times during everybody’s lives where we feel as if we cannot go on, and it is during those times when our faith gets tested. There will be trials, but God has promised to be there all the way. We just have to trust that God knows what he is doing (and he does!), and that is all we can do. Sometimes our lives can lead us down uncertain roads, roads that do not seem to end, but we should know that there is hope for everyone, that everyone can play a role in the ‘story’ of all stories- God’s never-ending story that goes on forever, but the twist is that every upcoming chapter is so much better than the one before.

As I finish, let me say this: we arrive at this conclusion of surrender into God's never ending story through many different ways, one of which is through listening to music- the Lord does speak through whatever He wants, and recently for me, it has been though music. And now to share my no. 2 song after 'History Maker', 'I Am Free', by Newsboys:

Some songs speak to the heart, and this is one of them. Mull over the song a bit, hope this song touches you like it has done for me.

Who the Son Sets free, is free indeed (lyrics from I am Free).

Until next post,

Jon.