The Narrator

 

Did you ever think about who the storyteller of your life is? Like most, if not all, of you, I have only ever thought about one narrator for my life, which is me (my egoic"I") but, what if we're not the actual storyteller?

In one of the first season episodes of Candace Cameron Bure's podcast, the guest host, Tara-Leigh Cobble, stated that the Bible was God trying to tell us who He is. So, when we read the Bible, we shouldn't look for the "me" in it or the stories or inspiration for solving our dilemmas in life, but instead, look to see how God is the story. We are his story to tell. Imagine changing our script from "How do I...?" to "Let God do..." 

This morning, I had a dream. As the observer, I watched a man shift from one life to another. In the first life, he wasn't a good man. He had no consciousness of morality or discernment of reaction versus thoughtful response. In the second life, he was struggling to do everything right and to follow in Christ's footsteps but he knew he would always fall short. He just couldn't figure out why. As the observer of this dream, I took a figurative step back and questioned "If, no matter what he does, he can never be the protagonist (or hero) of his own life, then who would be?" The immediate answer came, "The Narrator." Though not a word was spoken "off-stage" like in Shakespearian plays, this narrator was far more vocal through silent imagery. 

Compare this dream to the two Testaments of the Bible. What's the difference between the two? In the first, we have commentary on how God speaks to and through others. He directs action like a stage manager and narrates through speech and visuals. Essentially, He is the puppet master. In the 2nd Testament, He becomes the hero, the lead protagonist. We neither hear his voice nor are given visualized prophecy, except at the end when the story is coming to a close and getting ready to begin anew - to recycle into a new play.

I've been reading the Bible chronologically this past year and have been stuck on Jeremiah for months now. Why? Because throughout it God keeps repeating what He will do if the people do not line up. It came to me this morning a similar situation I had. A few years ago, I was struggling with a fear I've struggled with my entire life. Instead of dealing with it logically or according to how any sane person would, God told me to "Hold on" in faith and wait through the fear. In a way, it was like He was doing to me what he was doing to these people in Jeremiah - asking them to find faith and "Hold on," otherwise He would destroy me. Turns out, I had nothing to fear.

See, that's the thing... if we hold and have faith, He reveals Himself through us. Looking to find only ourselves within those pages can only ever lead to the sinful man. Why? Because "God is good." The Bible has many a verse such as Psalms 34:8, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" but it is in the first chapter of Genesis that we find clarification. Everything that God makes is considered good because it comes from Him. The only thing that was not declared good was darkness, while its separation from Light was. If we are indeed born of God and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are given the opportunity to fully understand how He is the designer, the operator, the director, the responder, the giver, the doer, the thinker, the feeler, and the narrator. And, that without Him, we will be "destroyed" mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually for we would be stifling His freedom of expression, His spark of life, and His Spirit of joy, beauty, and the resurrective voice (or Word). With Him, we may become that Spirit-expression, and, instead of striving (or even contriving) to do good works, we become the good works (with the Law written on our hearts, Galatians 2:11-3:25).

So, if you have been struggling the entirety of your life to be the hero, the protagonist, of your life, maybe, you should step back and ask if it's really your life's story to tell or if it belongs to God. 

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