“My life has a great cast of characters. I just can’t figure out the plot”.
This quote by Ashleigh Brilliant is on the front of a greeting card I have sitting on my desk. And underneath the humor of it, there is a whole lot of truth.
How often have you wondered about the “plot” of your life story? How many times have you looked around and wondered what in the world God is unfolding?
I do read other things much more uplifting besides quirky quotes on greeting cards. Recently I found myself reaching for a book I’ve already read a few times, but it’s the kind of book that’s worth another look. It’s “A Praying Life” by Paul E. Miller. Here’s what he has to say in the section titled, “Living in Our Father’s Story” :
To live in our Father’s story, remember these 3 things:
- Don’t demand that the story go your way. In other words, surrender completely.
- Look for the Storyteller. Look for His hand, and then pray in light of what you are seeing. In other words, develop an eye for Jesus.
- Stay in the story. Don’t shut down when it goes the wrong way.
When the story isn’t going your way, ask yourself, “WHAT IS GOD DOING?”. Be on the lookout for strange gifts. God loves to surprise us with babies in swaddling clothes lying in mangers.
I love that! When we’re in the middle of our stories, we can’t always understand the plot. We feel like we’ve arrived at a movie halfway through. Things aren’t making sense. The characters and the settings aren’t what we imagined they would be. It’s confusing.
And that is exactly when we have to trust the Storyteller.
I feel a surprise coming on.
Anticipatience 