Rewriting Your Story

I have heard this statement many times in my life that “Life is a stage, and we are living the script”. It makes so much more sense to me now than it was a few years ago. My question, however, is this; Whose Script are we living? The answer to this question is not far-fetched, because it depends on whom we allow writing our script. Some people live in other people’s shadows or allow others to determine their course. There is no problem emulating someone else’s life if the person lived to please God, but when the person you are imitating is living a life of complete deviation from God’s will, it becomes an issue.

Who rules your heart? In the book of Romans 6:16, Apostle Paul made us understand that whomsoever we yield ourselves to, he is our master.

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16 (KJV)

You can either choose to follow God and use His words to rewrite your own story or allow the enemy to write it for you. You can rewrite your story by plugging your name into every one of His promises. To do this effectively, you have to believe that God has your best interest in His heart.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them, 

Where I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I am awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17-18

God created man with the best intentions, however, the fall of man from the days of Adam has altered the course of our relationship with God. Even with the revelation of His plan to restore man through Jesus Christ, many of His children have not fully grasped the extent of His plan. We need to realize that God cannot lie about His promises, He even swore an oath to give us hope.

 “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath 18. That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17-18 (KJV)

The Bible should be the blueprint of every Christian’s life because God’s plans and purposes are spelled out there for us to follow. He has laid the foundation upon which we can build our stories, and each of us needs to search the scriptures to find out by ourselves. So, that we can live the story to the fullest, to fulfill His perfect will, and give our testimonies whenever we have the opportunity to do so. It will be an error if we then allow the enemy of our souls, Satan, to rewrite our stories for us, he can never mean well.

Some people think that the promises are for someone else, and not for them. Such was the case of Queen Esther, the niece of Mordecai who, almost missed it, but for the divine intervention of her uncle, who redirected her to her purpose.

“Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?’” (Esther 4:13-14)

Thank God that Esther did not allow deliverance to come from another place, she plugged herself into the script and approached the king on behalf of the Jews, Hallelujah!

My advice to my fellow Christians is not to let your enemy write your story, he can never mean well for you. Don’t ask me why? You should already know the answer to that question. The bible calls him, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, how can anything good come from him? He will definitely accuse you.

9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night.  Revelation 12:9-10 King James Version (KJV)

The only way to overcome the accuser of the brethren is stated in verse 11

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.” Revelation 12:11.

The ‘word of their testimony’ as mentioned above is what I am referring to as ‘rewriting your story’, I do not mean an iota of deviating from the word of God or what God has written about you. After all, Jesus said:

“I come in the volume of the book that is written about me”

(Hebrews 10:7, Psalm 40:7)

What I mean is using the word of God as your base to write your own testimonies. That is, plugging your name into God's own promises and believe in it so that when you write it and other people read about it, they will be encouraged by your testimony. In the book of Zechariah, we find an account of how Satan attempted to write the story of Joshua the High Priest.

“ And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.

6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,

7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.

8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.

9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.” Zechariah 3 1-10 KJV.

This account in the bible proves to us that the enemy will go any length to tarnish your image. Thank God that He did not allow the enemy to rewrite the story of this righteous man. God disgraced the devil on account of Joshua the high priest. We just need to search the scriptures daily, to get the nuggets that will build up our stories.

Having understood that Satan and his cohorts have nothing good to offer us, then we cannot afford to leave our lives in his hands, to direct us, we need to work on our getting our own testimonies, using the word of God effectively to live a victorious Christian life.

Hindrances

Two major hindrances to getting a testimony-filled life, are FEAR and UNBELIEF of God’s words and promises. Fear is simply a feeling and emotion that can cripple someone from moving forward in God’s plan. It is perceived,(not real) and always false. God does not work with the fearful. According to His word, He has not given us that spirit.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7(KJV)

Fear can lead someone to live an unfulfilled life that is void of testimonies. It is really dangerous to our spiritual health. It breeds despair and a feeling of dejection. Allowing fear and unbelief to rule your life means you are allowing the enemy to write a script for you. I know that feeling, it has happened to me before, it is a feeling of emptiness and despair, when you feel as if you are on your own, your prayers not being answered and so on. It is quite a negative feeling that can rob you of greater things. More so, it is the biggest lie from the enemy!

Unbelief makes us doubt the great things that God has done for us. The enemy specializes in blinding us, not to see the working of the Lord. Even when He gives us the go-ahead to do things, we fail to act. We have the tendency of wanting God to do every little thing for us even when He has empowered us to do it. We stay stuck in our comfort zone, refusing to move and fulfill His will for us. 

God has done it! He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He expects us to use what he has given us to our own advantage so that our joy will be full and we can have outstanding testimonies. The book of  Peter explains God’s divine provision and His expectation for us:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" 2Peter 1:1-8

I love how verse 5-8 emphasizes for us to make every effort to add to the virtues, which will help us to have a productive and effective productive knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we know Him better, then we can bask in His glory, and live a victorious Christian life. The above scripture admonishes us on what to do with His promises- to be partakers of God’s divine nature. Participating in Gods’ divine nature is a great privilege. It gives us access to everything Jesus Christ has! The power, dominion, glory, and many more. Therefore we can enjoy the pleasures of serving Him.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure, they are and were created.” (Rev 4:11)

One question that keeps resonating in my mind especially when I see the way some of us, Christians behave, is; “If we have been given all these great promises by God, Why then do we, God’s children operate as if we don’t have the tools to tackle life’s issues?” Having promises without corresponding actions is equal to living a defeated life.

In the bible, the Apostle Paul, appalled by the way some Christians were behaving like beggarly elements, said:

“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world... But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” Galatians 4:3, 9

I pray that God will help us to take hold of His promises, rewrite our own stories in form or testimonies so that we can affect the lives of others in Jesus’ name! Amen!