Take 2: Story Time and 'A Million Miles in a Thousand Years'

In his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller comes to the realization that “a story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it” (pg. 48). If you or I look deeply, my hope is that we would both realize that we are in the middle of a huge story.

Personally, I want to belong. To succeed. To glorify God. To love and be loved. To learn something new. To sleep sometimes. To do something that matters. To get good grades. To know others more deeply. To share joy and pain. To graduate. I could go on, but I think you understand. I have all these desires, but unless I start overcoming some conflict, I am never going to get what I desire.

My story has been rather complicated lately. I can’t explain exactly why God asked my family to move to Ohio, or define why He led me to choose a school 14 hours away from home. I do miss my family. It is hard being far from home. Sometimes I just want a hug from my mom or to listen to Dad read aloud at night. Welcome to my story.

Recently, my story has been focused on faith and trust in God. Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) describes faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” It is this confidence—which God supplies in my greatest times of need—that allows me to live my story. My desires, conflict, ambition, and results would be radically different without the involvement of the Ultimate Writer in my life.

God brings others into my story to support and encourage me. I need my family and my friends both here at school and at home, but ultimately my story is between me and God. He has ordained a path for me and promises to guide my journey, one step at a time. It is God who allows me to live a good story. He helps me dream big dreams, to overcome conflict, and to seek Him first for the assurance I need to live each day.

Questions:

1.       If we begin to recognize God as the Ultimate Writer of our stories, how does that influence our view of events like sickness, depression, hurting friends, death or other struggles? Can we trust that an all-knowing, good, loving God can use the things that hurt us to make our stories better in the long run?

2.       Miller writes that “the world needs us to have courage….the world needs us to write something better” (p.118). Is there something in your life that you need to have courage in? A struggle that you need to overcome? A new chapter of your story that you need to get off the couch and start living? Will you join me?