STORY IS HOW WE FIGURE THINGS OUT

Story is how we figure things out in life. It’s how we make sense of things as we align, compare, and correlate them with the story of God. God is not interested in what you think you should be or feel. He is not interested in the narrative you have constructed for yourself, or what others have constructed for you - or even the one your church has fabricated for you. Your story may be chucked full of ruts and potholes, crashes and do-overs! The Lord may even be using all these things to deconstruct some small stories and narratives to ultimately bring them into alignment with His story, a big story, a glorious story, a story of redemption and restoration, the story of God. I believe He does this on our behalf so that we don’t have to be burdened by what someone else’s expectations of us or, what others think your story should look like. When it comes right down to it, the big picture and story of God is the only thing that matters! 
He loves us so much that He is interested in you and me. The us who go through suffering. The us who inflict suffering on others. The you and me who hide. The we who have bad days (and good ones). And God meets us where we are in our story.
Jesus is not the man at the top of the stairs—he is the man at the bottom. The friend of sinners. The Savior of those in need of one. He is the lover of of those who are un-lovable! Which is all of us—all of the time!

Let that sink for a moment!
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I share this picture of my friend Jim Moore. We have shared a lot of life story together on rides, we have both suffered set backs and victories, and our stories certainly haven't turned out the way we thought or even hoped! It may not have even met the expectations of others. What I do know is this... God has been the author and finisher of our stories the whole time and His story of love and redemption is what is so evident in both of our epic novels!