If you watch enough movies and read enough books and peruse Instagram a few times, you begin to feel this expectation. You begin to question what your purpose is, what your story is supposed to say to the world. There’s even a space for you to play your story all day long. You may question if you are interesting enough, have done enough, crusade for the righteous cause enough. People may poke you a bit about it, too….”why are you not using your platform for XYZ?”
As I was praying this morning, I sniffed out the lie I was believing. When I pondered it and realized it was untrue, I took a really deep soul cleansing breath. See, I had begun to walk around with this expectation that I was to be the hero of the story. Now, I am not the hero, however, when you have an underlying expectation that you should be that brings shame and narcissism and a LOT of thought and examination about what I should be doing that I am not.
That’s not my place and that’s not my job. None of us are made to be the hero of the story, and we often spend copious amounts of time dreaming and thinking we are meant to be.
The ironic thing about people who are part of a solution that become “iconic” heroes is that they were probably not thinking of themselves and how the optics of the situation were going to play out in history. We spend an awful lot of time thinking about optics these days with social media and the news cycle. In fact, our lives can be an empty cavern of optics if we do not take care of our souls.
So, back to the whole hero revelation… it sounds so base because it is. What that is in me is sin. I put myself in the place of the real Hero, the One who is made for unending Glory. It’s kind of like the chiropractor popped my soul back into alignment seeing my self-focus be replaced with a focus on the True Eternal Hero that has infinite wisdom, knowledge, glory, kindness, justice, patience, purpose, grace, love, mercy, righteousness. Those are His shoes to fill, and He does it quite beautifully.
The reality that He has entrusted me in this time and space with certain gifts and skills to steward as part of His big story is humbling. There is a cadence to following Him even in the world of shifting sand right now. What a freedom to remember that I am not the author or the orchestrator.
In fact, it’s foolish that I have believed that yet again it was up to me to say the right thing and forge the right path and get attention for my “work.” So, today, I remember the One who is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created THROUGH Him and FOR Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. And you (jen), who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel you have heard…” Colossians 1:15-23
The Art of Coming Alive 