“Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.”
(Psalm 145:7 NLT)
Week before last I spent the week at the local theater with three of my children who were in a live play/musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces.” They had spent three months in drama and music rehearsals and that week we finalized the rehearsing and performed four shows. I love arts that connect us with God and each other, and this experience was that for me and for our kids.
In the course of that weekend I found myself in a conversation about the power of story. In all cultures in all times people have told stories to pass the time, to pass down ideas to future generations, and for entertainment. Since the Bible is God’s story, since God told the Israelites to “talk about” God’s commandments with their children (Deuteronomy 6:6), and since Jesus told us to go and witness about him (Acts 1:8), the concept of story must also be important to God.
Yet it seems like this beautiful and profound gift from God is unappreciated in many corners of society. Many parents don’t even read to their young children, much less read for themselves. Statistics show that many, many people never read any books after they are finished with the required books of school. Young (and old!) people today have so many forms of “entertainment” that the power of story, especially God’s story, can be lost.
One of the amazing things about God’s story is that there are so many layers to it. Do you remember reading a Bible story recently and having a completely different understanding than when you read it the first time? God’s Word is rich in its depths and our understanding of it grows and changes as we grow and change. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is alive and active.” (NIV) If it is “alive” it is growing within us. When we were children, we thought as children, but when we are adults we think as adults. Spiritually, children in the faith look at and understand things differently than more mature believers. And even mature believers are constantly learning and growing in their faith. I believe that God only reveals to us what we can handle at the time. We wouldn’t expect a first grade student to do advanced calculus or write a dissertation, and God doesn’t expect a new Christian to understand all of who he is. Yet, as we grow we can understand and do more. God expects us to never quit growing in our faith. In fact, God will reveal to us more and more understanding when we do seek to grow.
Which brings us back to the power of story. One of my favorite things as a child and then as a parent was to read stories. I loved learning about the world, about people, and about God through a plethora of stories and I loved introducing those things to my children. I believe that God can speak Truth whenever we are open to hear from him, so even stories that don’t seem to be from God can still be used by God to teach Truth. C.S. Lewis took the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche to develop a story in “Till We Have Faces” that deals with the different kinds of love that people desire, receive, and act out. I still don’t know that I completely understand the depth of meaning in what C.S. Lewis wrote, but I do understand that people who are broken and not loved in a healthy way are the “hurt people who hurt others.” Not only was this a theme of Lewis’s book and the play we did, but it plays out daily in relationships around us.
The Cupid & Psyche myth, Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces,” and innumerable other stories remind us that we were created to be in relationship with God. Our Creator God gave us not only a “God-shaped hole,” but every bit of our being that desires to be in union with the Loving God of the Universe. Every ancient tale of made-up gods and every modern tale of yearning reminds us that we humans will find something to worship and that those things will never be able to take the place of our perfect Way, Truth, and Life. All earthly stories remind us of the craziness of man-made gods and the superiority of the True Elohim.
Our God-desiring natures need the Truth of God’s Story and the beauty that he has put in so many other places. May we always be growing in our ability to absorb, appreciate, and learn from the stories around us.
Creating God,
Thank you for the beauty of all of Creation and how it clearly speaks to us of your eternal power and divine nature. Thank you for all the amazing stories Jesus told us while here on earth, and for the plethora of stories created by humans but inspired by you. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see the Truth, Way, and Life reflected not only in the Bible but in stories that reflect your heart and character. Help us to grow in understanding you and your Word. We ask in Jesus’s name, Amen.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20 NIV)