Your Life Story and Father's Love

In our modern culture we have relegated story telling to books, plays and drama, and maybe to children.  I believe we have lost a dimension of life in being a people of story, it is only in story and journey that we truly find context and understanding for what God is doing in our lives.  We can often find ourselves frustrated with the current chapter of our life because we fail to see the next chapter.  Failing to see the next chapter can mean we lack the endurance to walk this chapter well.  Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him.  In other words without having a revelation of us being united to the Father through His work on the cross, He would not have the joy to get through the cross.

Being involved in counseling and ministry I see people who feel like this chapter of their life is more the end than a transition into a new season where more life is released.  Where our story intersects God's story through our being "born again" is the beginning of new life for us.  In covenant His life becomes our life and we exchange our shame, pain, loss, hurt, disappointment, lack, fear, anger, frustration and, failure for victory, freedom, love, and all the dimensions of new life.  So in each chapter of our story and journey God is wanting to manifest His nature to us and through us.

In the ancient Hebrew culture story was a way of life, as most truths about God were passed down in an oral tradition and thus testimonies of God's faithfulness where given to another generation.  Although in passing down story it wasn't always the most accurate way and thus having it written down greatly improved consistency but we lost some of our love of story.  Story allows us to pull back from the details of everyday life and see the bigger themes, struggles, and who God is for us in each chapter.

God is able to redeem the chapters of our lives of darkness, loss, or brokenness.  He has the ability in redeeming these chapters but revealing what Jesus has done for us, so that there is lasting fruit.  If there is only fruit from the places of victory in our life, then we have limited God because He is our Redeemer.  He is the One who makes beauty for ashes and turns our mourning into joy.

In a culture that celebrates the instant, the quick promotion, the flashy, and the finished product; God in contrast celebrates the process, the journey, patience, and a lifetime.  Your life is a story that has intersected with God's redemptive story of humanity through Jesus Christ.  No dimension of you life will ever be the same as His redemption saturates every dimension of your being.  You are a New Creation, who is continually being created by the Holy Spirit in newness and freshness to encounter the various struggles, demands, and problems of life.

In His Story,
Bret