The Greatest Storyteller

 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (Psalm 139:13-18 ESV).

 

I hope you will forgive the use of an AI created image today. As I was preparing to write these next few devotionals, I wanted to conjure up a thought in your imagination of an old wise man immersed in his books writing a story. As you may know, I am a storyteller of sorts. In fact, I have been told that sometimes my stories are a bit too detailed and lengthy. I admit that I love to spin a tale. I do hope all of the stories have a purposeful effect on those who may be reading or listening to them.

 

This same thought brings me to the truth that I want to focus our attention on in the coming days. God is a storyteller. However, it’s surprising how easily we can end up missing the stories God has written for our lives. Winston Churchill once famously claimed that history was simply “one … thing after another.” In other words, he claimed there was no story behind our experiences in life, only a series of events. He couldn’t have been more wrong. If he was correct, there are few things more deadening to your soul than thinking that your life ultimately means little more than one thing after another.

 

Yet that’s how we often feel. On many days we view our jobs or careers or families as where we have “ended up” in life. But the Bible tells us that the events of our lives make sense because they are part of a much larger story. The struggles of last month or the victories that we may claim in the next few weeks are not simply chance occurrences. They are part of a story line that is going somewhere. The work you do, the people you share life with, the abilities you have, and the weaknesses you struggle with are all part of a collection of elements intended to make for a really good story, the story of you. God’s story of you. Celebrate that with me today. God has great purpose and love for all He has created… that includes each of us!