God's Story and The Terror of His Majesty
John 21: 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. (NIV)
Everyone loves a good story. Characters who are interesting; a plot that develops well, surprises and twists and turns. Something to keep your attention and maybe make you wonder, or dream, or dare to believe. Well, God Almighty is writing a story beloved. It is a story filled with interesting characters, a well developed plot and enough redemption to make you believe. But it is a grand story; not a short story. Sometimes it is disappointing to realize that the part we have been written in for may not be as big as we like to think. Because the sad thing is that we can often interfere in the story God is writing. Because of free will, we can walk out the will God intended for us. God will keep on writing of course and use even our disobedience to His eventual glory. But oh, if we could ever let the master write and accept the assurances He has given us that what He writes for us, is always in our best interest:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8: 28 (NIV)
That promise alone should be enough to assuage any concerns we might have about the part God intends for us to play in His grand story. But we can get so distracted with ourselves, with our own sense of importance, with our never-ending pride. We can try to take the pen from the hand of God and insist that we know better or even worse, that we know the mind of God. How many times have we all witnessed people clearly operating in manners that are not godly yet insistent that they are doing His will? How much rotten fruit have we seen borne in people convinced that God is on their side? God is not on your side beloved! He is not a respecter of persons. The question is if you are correctly on God's side! Are you allowing the Master to write; or are you usurping the pen? Job has some choice words for us today:
"Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake? Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people? No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor. Doesn't his majesty terrify you? Doesn't your fear of him overwhelm you? Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot. Job 13: 7-12 (NLT)
It certainly seems sometimes as if we operate without being terrified at the majesty of God. We become more overwhelmed with our own bloated sense of importance within the story HE is writing. I have seen people lie and cheat on behalf of God. I have seen people hurt others within the body of Christ on behalf of God. I have seen bullying behavior, threatening behavior, and completely ungodly behavior wrapped up in pseudo-piety that amounts to platitudes as worthless as ashes.
I am sure there are plenty of Biblical figures we can think of that would have had different ideas for their story. I am sure Joseph must have been tempted to take the pen out of the hand of God, in fact one time the Bible says he did:
And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I'm here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it." Genesis 40: 14-15 (NLT)
