If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE books. I could study and analyze symbolism, metaphors, and hiding meanings for hours. I love getting lost in the story of other people’s grand adventures and courageous acts. You never know what could happen next or how the author plans to unravel the world and story that they created. When you go to write a book there are so many little details to pay attention to, and I’m baffled by the amount of care, creativity and intentionality writers put into the smallest details.
Often when reading a series you’re on book 4 and all of a sudden a character you haven’t seen since book 1 swoops in and gives aid to the main character. The reader had totally forgotten about that character because you didn’t know they would become so influential, but the author didn’t forget them. They created them with a plan in mind, and the main goal of the story wouldn’t have come to pass in the way it did without that character, no matter how small their role first seems to the reader.
About a month ago God told me, “Megan don’t read any books for now.” I was so upset, but God is good so I put my books down for the time being to see what he had to show me through this. Wow did he want to show me something cool. The value of the bible.
The bible is the greatest love story ever told, and you and God are the main characters. I have a book written about me, and so do you… how cool! I used to look at reading the bible as a chore, I would think “why would I read this boring book that has so much confusing stuff in it, when I can read a riveting thriller or Harry Potter for the 100,000 time to pretend I’m a wizard?” Well, after giving up my beloved books I now have an answer. The bible is the most intimate love letter ever written, it has the bloodiest battles, most epic plot twists, blood and sacrifice, redemption and glory. The craziest thing to me is just like most authors when writing, God has the whole plot written from the beginning to end. He has intricately woven each character together with complexity and care.
From the creation of clouds, tadpoles, each individual blade of grass to you and to me, He created with purpose. No single person is a mistake; no seemingly small conversation or act doesn’t carry weight. God created us with purpose therefore we can create with purpose.
The first line in the bible is “In the beginning God Created…”(Genesis 1:1), and it goes on to talk about how He created man in His image. Well my conclusion from this is that the first characteristic we learn about God is that He is creative, and therefore we are inherently creative. We all create in different ways, some create through art, some create a safe place for others, some create communities of harmony, some create through dance or media, and some create through writing. No matter what form of creativity you bear, it is an expression of God’s glory. God was the original creator, and the one who created us, and the things that inspire us to create.
I used to think my love for literature was useless, how could being able to quote ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ or my interest in studying the symbolism in ‘Big Brother’ and its effects on society, help me in a career unless I was a teacher, and lets be real… high school kids can be kind of crazy, and I don’t want to go back there (God bless those who do!) I’ve been really frustrated that God had given me this desire to tear into and analyze literature because I didn’t have direction with my creativity. But this past month God showed me, “Megan, the most intricately written story is our story, and this talent I deliberately gave you will help you truly understand my purpose and see my vision through analyzing the bible.” Wow what an honor, something I saw as so small is actually vast and premeditated to the larger story. I have purpose because God creates with purpose and intentionality.
God, the author of me, hasn’t forgotten me no matter how long I spent pretending that I wasn’t a part of His story. If Gods intention of the Bible was to help point people to His love, then that’s the plot of my life. First, to be loved by God, and second to help others see how loved they are by Him as well. Though I stepped out of a few chapters in my past, God was always asking me to be in the perfect prosperous plot he wrote for me from the beginning.
