He Takes Dramatic License Over Our Life

I've shared on many occasions my love of watching programs on television. My daughter recommended that I check out First Ladies on Showtime. It did not disappoint! The acting and the manner by which the writers wove together narratives decades upon decades apart was remarkable. As I binged the show to catch up to where my daughter was, I noticed that each time a new episode began, these words would appear, "While this series is based on actual events, dramatic license was taken with certain scenes, dialogue and characters." I paused. Immediately I received revelation. As believers, we are encouraged to follow God's Word and apply it to our lived daily experience; however God is the author and finisher of our faith and is sovereign - suggesting He can offer a plot twist when we least expect it. He has the propensity to keep us in a "scene" until He yells, "cut!" He might prefer to have us repeat a particular action or situation over and over again. He also might jack us up all together and elect to leave all said "work" on the cutting room floor. Cause to be sure, can't nobody enact dramatic license like God. It's not always easy, but it's for our good.

It's funny, as I mature, the less I seem to know about what God is doing, but instead I know that He is doing and that must be enough. In the First Ladies series that I've enjoyed so much, a significant amount of the content was familiar to me, other parts, I'd just heard and other depictions may or may not be accurate. As we manage our own narratives - relationships, family, health ad wellness, finances, all that is important is the final cut. We spend so much time regarding the dramatic license over our lives coupled with wondering what others think as well. Here's the thing, contrary to what we may believe, no one really cares - each of us are too busy attempting to play the role that God has chosen us to play! Proverbs 19:21 affirms, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." I didn't grow up with the ability to binge a series or programs. One had to watch it when it aired or suffer the consequences of not being able to participate in conversations about what you missed. However now, we can sit down over hours and watch the entire series in one sitting. Either the former or the latter, not knowing what would happen next didn't make us stop watching - it made us in fact, sit closer. We leaned into the uncertainty. We accepted the dramatic license that was taken during the airing of the show, just as God may assume dramatic license with what feels like turmoil, but in the end, He knows and so will everyone else, that His ultimate purpose will stand. We want to be in His purpose! And as we manage the storms of life, we must remain in the center, which is in God. Are you brave enough to stay and watch the credits? Are you bold enough to trust in what the Creator is doing for you? Are you standing in great expectation for God to do something that blows your mind after hanging from a cliff? He can do it. He will do it. He's the best love story ever. We can binge on His love all day. And in the end, we may stand upon 1 Peter 3:22 as we manage the dramatic license He takes, "Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what He says goes."