Words Creating Space

This week I did something that I have always wanted to do. I was an extra on a movie set. My next door neighbor is involved in casting, and she recruited volunteers through our neighborhood group chat. The filming involved being available for the better part of a day, but I was able to switch some commitments around so that I could be a part of it. When the day arrived, I was a little apprehensive, because I didn’t know what to expect. However, what I experienced on the set was instant camaraderie and an abundance of energy and enthusiasm.

When I arrived, several extras were gathered together at a table and were chatting excitedly. I was welcomed into the group and as we talked, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in being new to this experience. I have to say that I’ve never really experienced such quick bonding with other people who I didn’t know before. We were all united by assuming our roles within a common story. As extras, we were trying to promote fidelity to the author’s storyline. Each of us was trying to remain true to what the author intended by making the story as believable and as good as possible. 

Once I was home and could process my experience as an extra, I related what happened on set to the spiritual backdrop of my life and the larger Story I’m invited into as a follower of Christ. I am given a choice every day as to how I will play my role in this larger story. My response to God’s invitation reflects what I believe about the goodness of the larger Story in particular and this belief informs how much of my energy and enthusiasm I’ll devote to it.

God’s Story begins with the ordering of the elements of Creation and includes His affirmation of their goodness. The fact that God pronounces His Creation GOOD reveals God’s intentions towards what He has made and foreshadows that it is this very attribute of His, His goodness, that will come under attack through sin. Adam and Eve were ultimately tempted by the crafty words of the serpent in the Garden to believe that God was not fully for them. (Gen. 3:1) What we believe about God’s goodness is what we will act upon and reflect to others about Him.

If God’s goodness is not the underpinning, the essence of who He is, then how can we trust Him?  When we seek God from the perspective that He only desires good for us, we are freed from self-incrimination and condemning judgment (which only serve to paralyze and distance us from God), and we can live into this goodness only available from Him.  Before God breathed life into Adam, He knew our flaws, He knew our sinfulness, but His unwavering choice to be in relationship with us testifies to His steadfastness rooted in His singular, extravagant goodness.  

It is the goodness of God that draws us to Him and towards repentance. (Rom. 2:4) It is also our struggle with believing God’s goodness that can cause distance to grow in our relationships with Him. After the creation account, God’s story continues with the Fall, which communicates larger truths to us about what it means to be human. These larger truths can be cautionary tales and warnings to us as they showcase what humanity is still after that may run counter to God’s good intentions for us. God desired to meet all our longings with Himself. Mankind has desired to supplant God’s Story by elevating knowledge of other things over knowledge of Him.

Does God’s good story inform the particular story of our lives? Are our lives involved in communicating the goodness of our Creator or are they stuck in the circumstances, the twists and turns of the subplots that often serve to hide His face from us? We need to undertake our role in God’s story within the community and support of other believers who unite us to and remind us of the good story that God has written for us. 

The glory of God’s good story is that we are invited to know the Author of it. Do we dare to trust His declaration of Creation as good and live into it? How each of us takes on our role of living out this declaration may turn out to be the most challenging, yet rewarding role we can ever assume. We need to give honor to this good, true story by communicating it with our very lives. We pray for you as we do for ourselves that we are able to experience our stories as chapters within His Story, remaining true to His storyline and to His abundant goodness.