Let God Narrate Your Story

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Psalms 139:16 (NLT)

In Psalm 32:8, God assures us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” This is why you read David praying, “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (Ps. 143:10). God has a plan for our lives, and He wants us to invite Him to be a part of it, allowing His voice and words to guide, inform, and transform us.

Have you ever watched a show in which the narrator’s voice abruptly changes without a transition? It would be pretty disconcerting, because stories usually don’t switch narrators; most of the time, they're told from one person’s perspective. Whoever starts narrating is the one who ends narrating the story. If the narrator changes, there is usually a drastic plot twist.  In our lives, we may have started out with our parents' voices, the world, and our desires, narrating our lives. However, upon receiving salvation, God wants to be the only voice that continues and consistently narrates our lives.

Ears that Hear

Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”

whenever you turn to the right or to the left.”

-Isaiah 30:21

God wants to be the One who sets the tone, directs the path, reveals the plot, and uncovers the hidden, infusing His wisdom, grace, peace, comfort, and joy along the way. However, we change the narrator when we allow our fear, pride, and the devil‘s deception to speak into and guide our story. We see that in Adam and Eve's life, in the beginning, God narrated the story, and they were at peace and blessed. God had created and built Eden for them to live eternally in peace, with provision and an intimate connection with Him. However, upon the serpent's introduction, Eve allowed the serpent and her desires to falsely narrate and color God's purpose, plan, and intentions for humanity. She listened to the voice that said God was holding back, and that there was something better to be had. She took on the enemy's narrative: the voice of death, depravity, and hardship.

Today, we have the same choice: who will narrate our stories? There are many voices in this world, and they will continually contend and try to drown out God’s voice. So, we will have to be persistent in casting down those imaginations, those voices, and fears that try to color our lives with hues of bondage, pride, deception, depravity, and lack (2 Corinthians 10:5). These voices try to speak into us and lead us down paths that walk us away from embracing God's love, grace, righteousness, mercy, and provision.

He Knows

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

-Matthew 6: 31-33

God has authored great things for us. He has provisions for us to get through hardship, beauty for ashes, a cloak of joy for mourning, but if we allow something else to narrate, we lose the beauty of what God is trying to fashion in our lives (Isaiah 61:3). We lose the lovely and powerful purpose and context God established in the beginning. Trust that God is the Creator, Author, and Finisher of your faith, lives, and stories (Hebrews 12:2). We should not allow opposing voices to speak into our lives, making them about something they were never intended to be (John 8:44 and Matthew 4:9-11). By seeking His kingdom and purpose, our needs are met, and our worries are quieted (Psalm 119:142-144 and Matthew 11:28-30).

The Word and Strength God Provides

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God;

whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies;

so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,

 to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

-1 Peter 4:11

We are the mouthpieces of God, and so we and others may pronounce things that God has pronounced. The voices that influence our lives should echo God‘s voice, not our fears and opinions, and not the devil‘s lies. If you are confused about the voice, go before God and ask Him for clarity. He said, "My sheep know my voice.” So you can go to God and say, “Lord, You said I would know Your voice, give me clarity on what Your voice is speaking.” He does not want us living in confusion. Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.” He wants to bring clarity, so ask Him. He wants to give provision and strength, so go to Him. God's voice and words not only inform and guide, but they also create and provide (Hebrews 11:3).

Prayer

Father God, narrate our lives and guide us through our seasons of, joy, mourning, rest, work, sowing, and reaping. Enable us to enjoy the nourishment and beauty of the things that You are narrating and planting into our lives. Lord, give us the mind to knock on that door, asking You to show up in our lives and reveal to us all the wonderful and magnificent things that You have for us in our lives. Lord, thank You for the opportunity each day, week, season, and year of our lifetime to choose Your voice to narrate our story. Show us how to think, where to go, and what we should be doing in this season of our lives. We need and desire Your guidance. Course correct us, God. Give us ears to hear Your voice, a heart to receive it, and a life that embodies it and walks in it graciously, in Jesus Name, Amen.