Search

character

A Story That Only God Could Write

by

We All Have a Part in It

Life is a collection of stories inside of a story. We all write our part of the story. The most important character in this story is the same as the Author. They are one in the same.

Today is Christmas. The celebration of the birth of Jesus. The most important character in the story of life.

The Bible is often called the Living Word of God. In Hebrews 4:12 it says, “God’s word is alive and powerful!”

We’re all a part of this living story being written daily.

We all play a part in writing the story. This is where things can go sideways. Too often we forget or neglect to check with the Author before we start writing. This leads to unnecessary struggles.

We saw the Israelites write like this over and over. They would write the story the way they wanted to and would end up paying the price. God would point this out to them multiple times. Then they would change their story to be aligned with His.

In Isaiah 9:1-7 they have been going through one of those times where they were paying for their writing.

Then they’re introduced to the main character in the story.

“For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Verse 6)

Life can be hard. It doesn’t always go the way we would like.

We want life to be quick and easy. We don’t want to go through the tough difficult things. This is where aligning our writing with the Author will help us through.

Back to the introduction of the main character.

When Jesus was born the shepherds were nearby guarding their flocks. Shepherds were considered to be the lowest of the low. But, that night they were visited by an angel. They were told of the birth of Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord.

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished… 

 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Luke 2:8-20

Even though the shepherds didn’t hold a high place in society, they shared the story with others.

We should glorify and praise God and share the story of Jesus with others.

Too much of the time we get caught up in what the world thinks. This is upside down thinking. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-28, Paul tells us to remember the people of this world don’t think that many of you are wise, and not many of you come from important families.

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

 What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important.

Remember to celebrate the Main Character of Life’s story.

Write your story with Jesus as the Main Character.

Trials Will Help You Develop Your Character…If You Will Just Let Them

by

It Comes Down to Using Challenges as Stepping-Stones, Not Obstacles

I’ve written about my truck situation a couple of times over the past few weeks. About how when life happens, it’s up to us to deal with the unplanned chaos.

It’s been almost a month since the truck was wrecked. I went through the process of figuring out whether to fix it or replace it. Once I got securely standing on that “stepping-stone” the next was what to replace it with?

I never dreamt that the space between the first stone and second would be so wide.

In the beginning I felt like we had a good start. We found a couple of trucks that I thought were just what I wanted. We reached out and then never heard back.

The space between the stones got wider.

I thought I knew what I wanted…I just wanted a newer version of what I had. Then as we searched more and the discussions continued, I was coming more and more confused about what I wanted and/or needed.

The whole need vs. want question became more and more unclear. What did I need…what did I want?

Then the question of how much I was willing to spend became a bigger part of the question. Originally, I thought I would spend the insurance check plus what I had saved for truck repair or replacement. But, is this going to be the best plan or should I consider borrowing a little and getting a better, newer truck with less miles that will serve me better and longer?

That next stone just continues to get further and further away.

I know that God has my back in this process, but I also have a part in it. It’s up to me to figure out the answers to some of these questions.

Being without a truck makes it hard to do construction work…pulling trailers, moving materials, etc. I think the biggest issue though is just the looming unresolved distraction of the unknown.

Okay…even though it’s a long scary jump to that next stone I have to make some decisions and jump or I will be stuck on this stone. It’s time to put together a list of options in order of priority and get serious about making some decisions.

If I do my part, God will see to it that I make it to that next stepping-stone.

And, I will be better for it.

Life Happens…The Question Is, What Are You Going to Do When It Does?

by

I Think Flexible Rigidity Is the Best Plan

I am an organizer and planner by nature. I like having a clear direction. A system in place to expedite those wonderfully crafted plans. Knowing what I’m going to do today.

But then…’life happens’.

You know what I mean. You’re going along, following those well-organized plans and then out of nowhere…something comes along and messes the whole thing up.

Just because I’m a planner doesn’t mean that I can’t be flexible, because I can. Sometimes maybe too much. It has always been pretty easy for me to make adjustments when something unexpected happens.

The problem with this is, getting derailed by distractions makes it hard to stay on task. Then of course that plan, that wonderfully crafted plan, is all messed up. For years I have worked to be better at balancing the plan and flexibility.

You may be on the other side and have the gift of doing. The ability to make a decision and move on it. You find it frustrating when the unexpected happens and you struggle to deal with it.

Knowing what character, personality and gifts you have is critical to being prepared in your own way to handle the unexpected.

I first wrote about this topic of being flexibly rigid back in 2016. It’s interesting that the instigation for that post was a brake line leaking on my truck. Now I’m writing about this again today, six years later.

Today’s situation involves brake lines and a whole lot more.

As I was turning into the church this past Sunday morning, I was rear ended. The accident knocked the rear axle out of the truck as well as causing some damage to the truck bed.

First and foremost, I’m grateful that neither I or the other driver were hurt…the vehicles didn’t fare so well.

Looking at the blessings is a great way to put things into perspective.

I’ve had this truck for twenty-two years and have put 523,000 miles on it, toward my goal of a million miles. People who know me, know that I like my truck…but ultimately, it’s just a truck.

Now, let’s look at how flexible rigidity works.

I need to start with considering my options –

  • Is the truck repairable?
  • If so, what’s it going to take to repair it?
  • If so, is repairing it worth the cost?
  • Is the insurance going to total the truck?
  • How much is insurance going to pay?

After I get the answers to these questions and others. I will weigh the options, ask God for His thoughts and make a decision.

He is the Master Planner and it is important for our plans to align with His.

We need to determine what our priorities are before the scheduling fiascos happen. Figure out who we are and what we want, so we are ready when the unexpected happens.

This doesn’t mean that everything will go perfectly, but as we search for clarity and work through each schedule disruption…

We will get a little closer to being who we were designed to be.

Being flexibly rigid is the balance of staying on task while handling things when life happens.