God's Story--by Linden Malki

God is a story teller!  We have the evidence of the Bible, which has stories in almost every book.  There are also historical records, which also include stories of people, some of who we don't have any other information about. The Bible has people constantly poking their heads out and turning into a story. This tells some things about God: He cares about individual people, and He thinks in stories. This is not just seen in the Bible;  every culture that we know anything about has its own repertory of stories.
We are told that we are created in the "image of God."  I suspect this is a recognition of the idea that our minds work, obviously in a much more limited way, like the Mind of God.  Jesus said "The King dom of God is like....." everyday things that we take for ordinary, but that demonstrate the likeness of our minds with His.  I find it interesting that we can recognize the humanity, the weaknesses and the strength of people we see in the Bible, and also in other literary works, from a wide variety of times and places. We think we can fly, but too often we crash and burn. He lets us try, and picks up the pieces. We can imagine things that are out of our everyday existence, and He lets us tap into His Mind. And He reminds us that His creation is still incredibly bigger and weirder than we imagine--or can imagine.
He tells us what is good for us, and what it bad. He gives us the choice, but it has consequences. The story is always bigger than we realize, but He allows us to reach for the stars. The world He put us on is bigger than we imagine, but fragile in ways we don't expect and can't predict; there is always more to learn.
God spent 2000 years working with a family that became a nation, but when it was time for them to go the next steps to a more challenging relationship with Him, the nation that was called to be His pilot program wasn't ready for the next chapter. They wanted to do it themselves; and were not ready to move up a step to a more challenging but more rewarding relationship with Him. God's story is always bigger than we know; bigger than we can know. Paul was called to tell the next chapter; and we're still trying to learn to stretch our minds an
d hearts into His Story.