God's Story - Our Journey
The bible is made up of sixty-six (66) smaller books, but it is one big book telling one big story about one even bigger God and how He related to people many years ago. We living in the twenty-first century must figure out how God and His story inter sects with the story of our lives today. As we understand better how God operated and who He was in the bible, He will become more relevant to us today.
The bible tells us that God is the same “today, tomorrow and forever” in terms of his character and attributes. So, if this is true, then as we learn about how He was thousands of years ago, this will help us to understand how He is today and how He will work in our lives in 2014 or 2015.
You will want to learn the bible through understanding its major themes (which are covered in this booklet), but you will also want to take the time to look back and reflect on your own life’s personal journey. Only as you understand both, will you begin to see God intersecting and acting in your life as you make your journey through this world
You see, God is telling His story from Genesis to Revelation. Most of us love a good story. I mean really, would you rather hear dry, boring facts and statistics or would you rather hear a heart-wrenching story?
But here is what makes a story even more exciting or meaningful to us – when it is either about someone we know or even better, about us.
This is how we want to approach the bible in this series. We want to give you sort of a road map – an overview of your journey in God’s bigger story.
When you are going on a car trip, you get a map out (or Goggle map) and you see where you are and where your destination is. You get an overview of the trip; and then you fill in the smaller parts or details of the trip (go on this route, turn here, turn there…).
It makes it a lot easier when you get an overview of the trip rather than just starting out and making one turn, then another, and another, because you don’t have a reference point for the bigger picture.
And this is true in God’s story. It is also true in your own journey.
You see, our lives are to be approached as one continuous story that is unfolding, rather than viewed as separate events. There is a sequence and flow to our lives or journey. But unless we see the bigger picture, we will miss this.
You see, our lives aren’t simply made up of pages, but rather chapters that tell a full story as we journey through life.
Our lives are made up of highs and lows… sometimes the plot thickens in our lives… sometimes there are sudden shifts in our life’s journey, and then other times our lives are pretty mundane, even boring. But there is an ebb and flow.
On our journey, we are sometimes living day to day without giving much thought to our journey. Then other stretches of our journey, we wrestle with the meaning and purpose of our lives. Though life never stops, it sometimes slows down long enough where we can contemplate where we are going and why. The busyness of life doesn’t often allow us to look at the bigger journey, but that is exactly what God is calling you to do.
Until we see our lives as one continuous journey, the events of our lives are seen as fragmented pieces; pieces that don’t seem to fit together. We don’t see how these pieces are weaving one big masterpiece. Until we begin to see our journey inside a much bigger story told by God, our lives often feel like a puzzle where there is a piece or two missing.
You see, God is not only telling His story through the pages of the bible, but He is also telling it through the pages and chapters of our lives.
The question for us is, where do we find ourselves in His story?
There are various connection points for us to God’s story:
The first time you come to God. For some, you were raised in the church… you can’t remember a time when you didn’t believe in God or feel God was a part of your life. Others of you didn’t grow up in the church and were raised with little awareness of God.
A second connecting point may be a Turning Point – where you realize you have been living your life basically apart from God. Going down the wrong road. Not necessarily into anything terrible, but just that God isn’t on your radar. It is just you living your life your way. A turning point is realizing this and turning back to God. Connecting your life to His bigger story.
And then there is a Returning Point – where you knew God… where church was important in your life… but you realize it is time to return to your spiritual roots
Any number of things may trigger us to re-evaluate our lives and lead us to a first point, a turning point or a returning point…
Getting married
Having a child
Death of a loved one
Crisis
Meeting someone who speaks a word into your life
God is looking to write a new chapter in your life… He is asking you to connect to His story
Ask yourself these two question
Where does my life’s journey fit in God’s story
What role has God played in my journey?
