Aligning Our Life Stories with God's Narrative

Our lives are lived as stories and if we get them wrong we get our life wrong. Many years ago now, well over a decade, I found myself deeply disappointed, and that was true in a number of areas of my life but particularly in my family life. My failures as a dad, the details don't matter, not all my story to tell, but it was very painful for me. [00:01:14]

I thought as I was reading that book if they were confident in their faith, if they were joyful, if they could trust God, if they could be direct and honest with their kids, but also loving and conf—that's somebody that I would admire, not these, you know, Martyrs, whiny self, but I was heading that direction. [00:03:10]

A story is simply a person, a protagonist who has a heart desire, an object of desire, and they wanted and they wanted very much, but they have to overcome obstacles and conflict to get it. And that's our lives, that's us, that's you and me. And I can give up, I can quit, I can ask questions about am I seeking to desire the right thing. [00:04:23]

The question is if somebody was making a movie about your life just today, how would the person who's playing you need to act, need to live, what choices would they need to make, what posture, what orientation toward life would they need to assume for you to admire that person deeply. [00:05:43]

Hebrews, that great chapter, Hebrews 11, talks about people who did not receive what was promised, but they were commended for their faith even though they did not receive. They didn't get the object of their desire, not in this world, but they kept moving towards God. [00:06:57]

The philosopher Alistar McIntyre said the only way one can answer the questions who am I or what shall I do is by asking the prior question, what story am I a part of. And that's why so often in the Bible, which is the great story, the story of God and God's desire to be with his people, you see folks being given a new identity as they become part of a new story. [00:07:14]

He was Jacob, the Grabber, the deceiver, he's now entered into a new story and is Israel, the one who contended with God. Jesus says to Simon, you were called Simon, but now you're going to be Peter, you're going to be The Rock. When I enter into a new story, it causes me to look at my life differently. [00:07:57]

Richard Hay has written a great book about the Apostle Paul and his Theology and he says the core of Paul's thought was not some religious Doctrine or an abstract system, it was the story of Jesus, that the faithfulness of Jesus is the way that he lived his story and somehow his story becomes our story. [00:08:02]

Take whatever challenge you face, want you to think about it right now, your problems at work, in your family, deep disappointment, horrible loss, or frustration that you know is pretty trivial but it still gnaws at you. For whatever reason you feel inadequate, overwhelmed by your tasks, now pull yourself out for a moment. [00:08:33]

God Is Watching, God is inviting you to make your story part of his great story. You know what makes us deeply admire a person is when they are moving towards love and peace and joy, that is the kingdom of God. So today ask that question, somebody's writing the story of my life, how would the person playing me have to act in order for me to admire them deeply. [00:09:08]

God, together with you, can I write a different story about this day. Everybody has a story. Hey, if you enjoyed that video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss any future teachings from John Ortberg here at Become New. My name is Tim and I'm a part of the team here. [00:09:40]

This series is all about stories, everybody has a story and everybody's story matters and we want to know about your story, whether it's a story of coming to Faith or a story of spiritual growth, whatever it is, we're here for you. You can email that to us at connectcomnew.com or you can text it to us. [00:09:58]