Story

by Rebecca Irwin

I was given a writing assignment to begin a story that I could add to over the next three weeks. I struggled to come up with a character for my story until one day, my youngest son walked in and I had an “ah-ha” moment. I told him I was going to write a story about him. If a boy of five could look flattered, he did. The beginning of the story reads like this :

“His name, as he skips across the grass or whistles in the kitchen is usually Jack Henry. He is the boy with the wild hair, always a scraped or skinned knee, and chocolate brown eyes that look deeper than seeing. He is the boy who can make a new friend in an instant, charm you with his smile and a wink and say laughable things with just the right timing. He is also the boy who can grit his teeth and curl his lip and stomp off when his plans are foiled. But this boy doesn’t always match his profile. Sometimes, he takes a different name and exhibits new behaviors.”

When I had completed the first page I invited him in and read it to him. He was totally thrilled with himself for being a character in a written story. He urged me to keep writing!

For this same assignment, we were given a series of questions to ask ourselves about the story in progress. Questions like: “Do each of your characters have a desire?”, “Do your characters evolve?”, “What happens in your story?”.

This caused me to ponder; Is our life a story of random chapters with no evident over-arching theme? Are we the authors of our story? Do we have sole control on our character development? What will happen in my story?

We all live out of a story. But it is a hopeful truth that as followers of Jesus we are given an alternative story to live out of through the work of Jesus Christ.

I find, like the disciples, (especially Thomas) I have a difficult time trusting God’s story will turn out like he said, or that His promises are true. In Matthew 28:6 we see “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (italics mine) But we also read in the resurrection story about their doubt : “Still later, as the Eleven were eating supper, he appeared and took them to task most severely for their stubborn unbelief, refusing to believe those who had seen him raised up.” Matthew 16:14 (italics mine).

Step back and see that Jesus Christ has included us as characters in an amazing story that has purpose and direction. And, just as He said, He will come again to restore His Creation! My hope this Easter is that our hearts will believe His promises as we live out His story as His church and await His return.

Jesus, thank you for giving us a record of your amazing story and including us in it. Thank you for being the Author and Finisher of our faith. Thank you for the certain victory you will have over death in our lives too – your resurrection power! Please eliminate our “stubborn unbelief” and doubts and cause us to have faith in your promises and live out of your story.
Amen!