You know how awesome that spin off show “Joey” was? Oh you don’t? That’s because Joey Tribbiani was not built for the star role. And bad news… neither are you.
I’ve recently been bemoaning the lack of success around me. I feel strongly that God has given me goals of making disciples and investing in people and in turn building His church and I can’t always see much fruit. And subtly I have grown frustrated with God’s ability to support me.
I started thinking of what characters in the Bible might have felt as I do now. And I thought of the prophet Jeremiah. He certainly was distraught over the condition and lack of change around him.
I wanted to get inside his head to see how he dealt with his world. But before I even got into his story I saw that the word prophet means “one called”.
And I paused.
One called. By who? Obviously God— called by God, then that means Jeremiah was called for God’s purpose— not his own. So I guess neither am I… nor you.
Even if I am 100% right in my understanding of God’s desire for me I have still incorrectly placed myself in the starring role of this drama.
This is how I have gotten off course. While taking my responsibilities seriously I have gone too far and overstepped my place in this odyssey of God’s.
Maybe some of your frustration and heartache could be soothed by the realignment of your role in God’s story.
Maybe you’re hurt that things are not playing out like they are supposed to. It could be because you think you’re the one in charge of the final edits.
And maybe you’re frustrated with your role in this "movie" but you're kind of being a spoiled actress.
But as I sit here at my computer if I were to receive an email from Mel Gibson, I would feverishly accept whatever role he offered me in his work. And that is the more appropriate response to God’s direction in our life.
There’s lots of things to distract and disorient us here in the West. And just about all of us have struggled with thinking we are the protagonist in a film about us.
I challenge you to critique yourself in that understanding.