Toward the Story We Want To Live: making it happen
If you are a sports fan, as I am, you love watching ESPN’s Top Ten every night. Each day, as the sportscasters review the day, they show off the Top Ten plays from across the world of Sport. It could be Lebron James with a monster dunk or a crazy sick block, or Tiger holing in from out of the sand trap, or Roger Federer hitting an amazing “tweener” for a winner (or me doing the same!!), or perhaps, Drew Brees launching a 60 yard bomb to Colston for a touchdown. Whatever it is sportsfans love it! Why?
I think its because we see in those moments of glory just what the human body is capable of. In those few seconds captured in each scene we get a glimpse of the epic quest every human has lurking within the heart: the desire to do great, be great, live great, to be part of a great scene. Those moments point us to the artistry of sport, the thrill of majestic play, and the poetry of physicality. Its awesome, baby!
Maybe for you, its photography. If, like me, you are captured by a great still shot which captures an amazing landscape, a beautiful expression, or an unexpected glimpse of beauty, you know just how deeply the art of photography can touch you. For me, its all about the capturing of a moment which will never come again, but which can be revisited again and again as we look back and remember, and relive. Again, its all about the scene. I love the scenes represented by a great shot.
For others it may be a video clip, a music clip, a work of art, a ticket stub, a signed baseball, or anything else which captures a moment in life, a scene, in which life took one’s breath away even if for a moment. Those are the moments which cause us to soar, dream, reach for more, and long to live–bigger, better, fuller lives.
But how do we get there? How do we really live lives worth living? How does that story come alive for us? Does it just happen? Do some get there by luck? Are some just born into a better story? Is there a roadmap? Can anyone live in scenes full of glory?
I believe there is both a roadmap, and a way forward for all of us no matter where life has us at this present juncture. Whether we are on top of the world already, trapped in a prison cell, facing certain ruin, or somewhere in between, life is ripe with the potential of better, more, greater epic storied living. For the school teacher, the doctor, the lawyer, the landscaper, the writer, the real estate agent, the vet, the soldier, the student, the battered woman, the abused child, the prostitute, the drunk, the sexually addicted, the tennis pro, the sports agent, the mom, the dad, the single mom, the single dad, the cheated upon, the cheater, the pure, the defiled, the strong, the scared, the sinner, and the saint, and everyone else…the story you dreamed of, the story bigger than your dreams, the story in the heart of God for you…it can happen. It should happen.
First off, we have to take a good look at where we are and how we got there. What kind of scenes has your life been made of? Are the scenes ones you would like the God of the universe to play before you on video when you stand before Him? Are the scenes ones your mom would like to see? Your pastor? Your client? Your kids? Your spouse? Is your story made up of moments worth retelling? Reliving? Revisiting? Do you want your kids living the same kind of stories?
Step one in getting on the road toward the life God has for us is to be honest about our story. That honesty begins with ourselves. Sometimes we have to look in the mirror and say, “Wow, you have made a mess.” Then we need to make a determined commitment between us and God to surrender our mess over to Him and allow Him to have His way.
God knows our stories are less than they ought to be, and He knows whatever it is we have hidden or have attempted to hide from others and from ourselves. Somehow, we are even duped into thinking we can hide from Him. The good news is that God is for us, that Jesus gave His life for those ugly scenes, and that God is just waiting for us to open our hands and heart and say, “Here you go. Me and this mess are yours.” Simply put, this is what the Bible calls repentance. Its an acknowledgment of what we are, how we have failed, and a desire to turn away from it, and run toward God’s plans for our lives. Without this step, its just human effort, and no matter how superior we may be to other humans, it will never be enough to truly lift or complete the soul and its hungers.
Step two for getting us moving closer to that life we hunger for, and God is thrilled to give us, is a development of the ability to connect the dots. You remember those books from grade school? The ones where if you connect the dots properly a picture you never expected unfolded? Cool, eh? I loved those things. Our lives are a bit like that. The life of faith is a lot like that. God has a plan, an amazing, unexpected, and artistic plan for us. We have to trust that if we follow His agenda, and connect the dots through a life of obedience to Him, that He will bring about the unfolding of a picture beyond our wildest expectations. God has given us the the roadmap. Scriptural living is the new and improved connect the dots book. This is the one all those juvenile sketches pointed toward when we were young. God’s word, the Bible, given over several hundred years, and written by over 40 different authors, over various geographic regions, with amazing continuity and focus, with more evidence for its support than any recorded document in history, is the ultimate life puzzle unfolded. Its His story for us…its the dots connected cliff notes for life.
If we will take God up on His call to read His word and live it out (that is the connecting of the dots in daily life) we will see the big picture unfolding in grand ways. As we move along and connect more and more of the dots and follow His plan for family, finances, sexuality, friendship, worship, vocation, pleasure, desire, giving, trusting, forgiving, community building, and more, we find the scenes of our lives getting better and better, and we begin to see a bigger plan for us ultimately. That reality has the potential to capture us, inspire us and spur us on to an ever increasing quest for a big life.
The third step toward reaching that epic life, the life full of great scenes and big stories, is to live intentionally. This also helps us connect the dots and allows the overarching narrative of our lives to unfold as The Author above intends. If we merely live for the moment, react emotionally, or follow the party we will never know the value of an intentional and connected life. An intentional life keeps us on the course God intended for us. Following God’s plan in each relationship we choose and walk through, sets the stage for a great scene. It protects us from so much damage. God says that His kind of love unfolds in purity, faithfulness, and fidelity. When we get off course and draw our life on our own we disfigure the connect the dot plan and chaos ensues. Remember those connect the dot puzzles you got wrong in grade school? The helicopter that turned out like a deformed frog? The sailboat that looked like a one-legged bear? Pretty ridiculous! That is how our lives turn out when we abandon God’s plan for living. We look at it, others look at it, and we see what has the faint marks or hints of something discernible, but we know something is seriously amiss, off, disfigured.
Intentionally following God’s plan, the Bible, is the only sketch God blesses, the only one He will honor. To do otherwise would be to contradict His very character. And because He is perfect, He cannot do that. We can trust His bigger picture for us. He wants it to make sense, to work out, to be something of beauty. The call for Christians not to be “unequally yoked” (that is not to marry outside of true authentic Christ followership) is God’s clear path for a fulfilling life and marriage. He is for our fulfillment in marriage. He knows the person we marry will largely determine whether life on earth for us is heaven or hell, as one commentator has put it. This is true for every category of life–pleasure pursuits, sobriety, modesty, honesty, the kind of company we keep, the way we instruct our kids, …all of it is in view. He sees and knows it all. And He wants the world for us.
Lastly, if you want the kind of life God offers us all, if you desire to be able to look back on your life and remember epic scenes, if you want the people standing around your casket at your funeral to be telling stories worth telling, you have got to commit yourself to a life of continual transformation. As great screen writers will tell you, the most compelling characters in film are those who go through a process of change as they face obstacles and difficulty. Life transformation is critical to the success of character, plot, and story. The worst movies, the boring ones, are the ones where some character faces a life of ease and pleasure and mindless pursuits, thinks about nothing but the moment, and has no serious change take place within. Those movies bite! They don’t win awards, and people quickly forget them. We want more. We know we were created for more. Its the bigger stories that capture us.
This is a critical component of living the life God calls us to. He does not, will not, leave us as we are! Thank God! He calls every last one of us to a journey of ongoing change. It is true of every character revealed in scripture and it remains true today. Not only that, but as you read the scriptures you find that massive character transformation takes place in the biggest of personalities and heroes of faith. Those that endure great harassment, pain, and difficulty seem to be the one’s who change the most, and it is these who have the greatest influence on the lives of others, and who offer the critical clues of epic living to us all. Amidst great pain, up against seemingly immovable mountains, and enormous temptations, these are the men and women of faith who run to God for strength and purpose. And as they direct their quest toward goodness they find scene after scene connecting the dots and bringing about a picture of grace, redemption, love, meaning, unsurpassed joy, and God sized accomplishment.
That’s the life I want. What about you? Let’s get after it. Today. Now. May God grant it. Amen
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormwriter.com
28. October 2009 at 08:46
Good stuff. Thanks.