There are some stories that echo the truths we hold dear and the things we long for most, even when we don’t always realize it. Those are the stories that always stay with us; they are the stories that have meaning, that make us grateful to be alive. They find hope in the midst of darkness and help us see the world in a whole new way. Best of all, they have a happy ending.
I long for life to be like that. I want it to have meaning that can be discerned, mysteries that will be revealed, and wrong that will be made right. Maybe even an ending beyond the edge of the world, where the sun sets and dreams come true.
As a Christian, I believe that life has meaning, and that everyone has purpose and inherent worth. God is the author of everyone’s life, and we are the characters.
A human author always takes care to infuse meaning in everything. Every character, every event has purpose, and even if the story gets dark around the middle, you can trust that it will always work out to a satisfactory conclusion by the end.
But our lives, the stories God is writing, don’t always fit that pattern. Life can seem meaningless sometimes. God can seem far away. Things don’t always happen in a way that makes sense.
And life doesn’t always have a happy ending.
Why is this? I believe life doesn’t always read like a story because we are finite creatures. Unlike God, we cannot always see how our lives affect others’, or how much of a difference our existence makes in the grand scheme of things. We can’t always see the big picture; in fact, we seldom do.
But this is also because none of our stories are the story. Each one of our lives is a single strand of thread, which, when interwoven so that it intersects with an infinite number of other strands, together with all the others, creates a beautiful tapestry. The Story.
His Story.
Yes, our lives are stories, and we are the protagonists. But we are also very minor characters in the Ultimate Story. Our lives may be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but each one is an essential piece to an eternal puzzle that is not yet finished—the Story of God and His love for us. Of how through the aeons of time, through our hate, through our sin, and through our darkness, His love found us. He found us, and made us His own.
And there will be a day when all will be revealed, when evil will be destroyed, and the whole world will once again rejoice in eternal light and love. Someday, what was in the dark will be unveiled, and justice and love will roll down like water, to cover the world forever.
But it is not today. For now, we, each one of us, has a small part to play in the Ultimate Story: to obey Him, clinging in faith to His providence and love for us. There will be darkness and sorrow, and there will be times when things don’t make sense. But He has promised that everything will be all right in the end. We must trust Him, and press on.
This is the Story of Life.
Featured image by azerbaijan_stockers
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Eyyyy, congrats on getting a post published, J.S.! I love this. Very hopeful and heartfelt. 🙂
Thanks so much, Havalah! I really appreciate it. 🙂