Nothing can move hearts like a story? Every story has the power to inspire and motivate, and even instill fear and move us emotionally, like nothing else can.
Most importantly stories determine our view of reality and our approach to life, love and relationship. And the truth is, your life is a story. My life is a story.
But then again, there’s the story of God. The Bible is a book about a story, God’s story, which, for all intents and purposes is the guiding story of all our stories. This is the story of a holy Creator (God) in furious pursuit of His creation (You & Me), a Pursuer who never relents, never tires, never gives up on His beloved.
Look closely and you discover that the story of God is, in actual fact, a story of love, true-unconditional love, by the way God is Love. When we stray from Him, he is grieved, but remains unfazed by our waywardness, undistracted by our inability to remain faithful. You and I are being pursued by Love.
Unfortunately, somewhere in history, someone began twisting and watering down the story of Love, the story of God. Someone decided that the wrath and anger of God was a more effective hammer for evangelism, and since then, that hammer has been wielded at us freely and wildly that we have lost sight of the real story.
The “greatest story ever told” has been perverted and transformed into the “scariest story ever told”. But inspite of it all, Love (God) said “You shall know the truth (Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life) and the truth will set you free”.
In the story of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the grace and faithfulness of God are far greater than the wrath and anger of God.
The following are extracts from His story: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” John. 3:16, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” II Cor. 5:19, “…God’s mercy is great, and He loved us very much. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did …He gave us a new life with Christ” Eph 2:4-5. “…the gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s power unto salvation, to all who believe” Rom 1:16.
My 14year old son would put it this way: “God said to tell you to take a chillin’ pill, He ain’t mad at you”.
Much Love!
