God’s story is certainly bigger than the Bible, but the Bible is nothing other than God’s story. The story of God revealing himself to his loved creations, you and I, and all humanity. In the title of one of his books, Brian McLaren has called the Bible The Story We Find Ourselves In. I think that captures well the way in which I have grown to view the scriptures I shape my life by. I have come to understand scripture as God’s narrative, and I find myself in that narrative.

            It is in the Bible that I have come to find my true self. It is here that I have come to understand God as the One who loves me completely and unendingly, and no-matter-what-in-spite-of-everything! It is in this love that I find myself in, that I gain an identity as one of God’s creations who has unsurpassable worth in his eyes. It is that identity that gives me the strength (that I don’t have on my own) to live into God’s way that is revealed throughout the narrative of scripture.

            But we also “find ourselves in the story” in the sense that our ongoing lives are wrapped up in God’s story as well. We have become part of God’s story. Have you ever thought about that? If you have, or if you are pondering it now as you read this, what does it mean for you? Could, (or should,) it change our perspective on the significance of our lives when we realize that our lives are woven into God’s grand story? How will the way we live our lives affect God’s story?

This is a question we may never come to know the answer to in our lifetime; but when we think about the small ripple our life may cause in the ocean of humanity, (or the large splash in the “pond” of our neighbor’s life,) we can begin to imagine that maybe our lives are more significant than we thought possible. As we cooperate with God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in the world, he multiplies our seemingly insignificant efforts in ways that often end up bringing huge change in someone’s life.

As we read the scriptures, we see this happening all the time. God’s power multiplying the (seemingly) baby-steps of faith and faithful actions of persons he invited to act in response to his call to them. We even see examples of people who answered the call grudgingly, or with great doubt, (think Jonah or Moses), and yet God accomplished his purposes through them to free people who were in bondage or who were living wayward, destructive lives.

Let’s become part of God’s story by continuing to immerse ourselves in it. Soak in the powerful stories of God-at-work-in-the-world that we read in the Bible, and let’s become part of his story by taking the plunge of living out the call that God has placed in our hearts. Let’s make God’s story our story.

Pastor Carl