Who’s Writing Your Story?

September 3, 2024

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Christian, are you letting God write your story today? If not, or not entirely, here are 5 things to try:

1) Hear from God

Read the Bible, then pray to ask God how you should respond. Try a Bible verse of the day or Bible reading plan. Here’s a recent daily verse from the YouVersion Bible App: “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” Eph 5:1 (NLT).

2) Listen to Others

Find a trusted voice of the faith, a mentor who is further along in faith, a pastor, or an author/theologian. Try relistening to Sunday’s sermon from your church—try taking notes.

Try listening to our church’s recent sermon podcast episodes while taking a walk or doing things around the house, or listen to a podcast devotional from a trusted publisher within your faith tradition. I enjoy the Seedbed Wakeup Call devotional.

3) Put Down Something

What’s one thing that creates a narrative counter to God’s story for you? It may be the source or amount of news you consume, the apps or sites that tempt you sexually, and for others it may be time spent on your own dreams instead of God’s will for your life.

4) Make Time

Reduce stress or create margin. Stress or busyness leads to decisions made in haste, irrationally, or out of anger. Can you find one or two things to move off your plate until a later date, or completely? Deciding what to defer or delete is easier when you prioritize what’s most important to you. A simple priority order for Christians might be a) faith, b) family, c) financial, and d) fun.

5) Set a Goal

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Hockey player Wayne Gretzky (or Michael Scott—we may never know who said it first).

Do you have Godly goals for your life? Goals like, be more: a) compassionate, b) generous, c) loving, d) diligent in saving, e) productive in career, or f) helpful to others?

The best predictor of reaching success is defining what that success looks like. Setting a goal sets you on the path towards reaching it. It seems so obvious, but so many goals are never attempted or attained because of ambiguousness.

What’s Working

What have you tried that helped your story align with God’s will? Which of these might help you? What would you add as #6? Let me know if I can be helpful to you in a specific way.