Story

"Day by day our lives are woven into a giant narrative, and every moment we become more and more the story of who we are. We are our stories. And we only connect with other people when we know their stories. The more intimate we are, the more our stories intertwine."

I get such a sense of comfort from this analogy. The author is alluding hat our lives are all part of this interwoven story that God is telling across an infinite span of time. When man tells a story, he does so in a 300-page book or a two hour movie. When it’s God telling the story, there is no sense of time and no limit to it's level of intricacy and detail so it goes on and on and on - across years and decades and eras and eons. This "theory" that we’re all part of God’s ultimate story line seems right to me because it answers two questions of mine:

1. Why did it take Jesus so long to come to earth the first time?
   
   
2. Why is it taking Him so long to return this time?
   

As men, (or women, if you will) we grow impatient with a story that drags on for too long. Take me for instance…I believe Claire has already "outted" me on the fact that I read the end of every new book first. I do this for two reasons:

1. It challenges me to put the beginning of the book with the end of the book – helping me flex my storytelling skills by trying to figure out the plot before it is revealed, and
   
   
2. It keeps me from rushing through the book in a wild attempt to learn how the book will end.
   

If I know how the story ends I can read it slowly, savoring all of it. If I have no idea what lies ahead, I tend to rush through it, desperately wanting to know where things are going to end.
I used to be this way with the story told in the Bible until I realized one day I already know how this story ends! I might not know the date or time Jesus will return and take His creation to the next and final step but I do know what the outcome will be and for me, that is enough. Enough to trust the storyteller to take me down the road one step at a time. Enough to let God guide me from place to place and person to person. Enough to let Jesus come to rest inside my heart because I know He’ll never leave or forsake me.

As an author / blogger we all try to tell our personal stories in a way that others can relate to. We strive to connect with others who share our experiences or who live within the same parameters. We use our words to make the details of our heart known to others.
And so did Jesus.

"Like the harmony and the melody living together in the same song, Jesus was divinity and humanity living together in the same heart. He was the Word of God, God’s story, in the flesh."