The Distorted Story of Fallen, Broken Man Revisited

Matt 16:23--Get away from Me, satan!  You are a stumbling block before Me!  You are not thinking about God's story; you are thinking about some distorted story of fallen, broken people.

     This quote from The Voice New Testament translation of the scriptures keeps ringing out to me.  It is an accurate description of mankind.  Mankind fell away from God's presence when he sinned in the Garden of Eden.  Our relationship with a loving Father was broken.  Therefore, without being able to hear Him clearly, we have developed our own distorted story of life governed by the events that surround us.


     Throughout the rest of Jesus' ministry, He attempted to show God's man-child God's story through the things that He taught and the things that He did.  Some people readily accepted His teaching and some people readily turned their backs on Him and refused His help.  They chose to believe their own distorted story.  The ones that refused Him the strongest were the ones who said that they were students of God's Word.  The same holds true today.


     A great example of this is the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob.  He was the one that God had chosen to be his key instrument in fulfilling the word He spoke to Abraham.  We see that he was sold into slavery because of jealousy.  He was thrown into prison because of his stand against adultery.  Yet, through all of those years, he maintained a good spirit.  He had chosen to believe God's story instead of the one playing out in front of him.  Did he know every chapter ahead of time?  No.  If he had written the story himself, would he have written it differently?  Just like you and I, we most certainly would have.


     This especially hits home this week.  Last Tuesday night, as we were returning home, another vehicle jumped the grassy median and virtually hit us head-on.  My wife very well could have a broken rib.  My son, daughter and myself suffered some bruises.  We all have suffered quite a bit of anguish and anxiety over it.  The van we were riding in was totaled.  There are several other adverse things that I won't take time to mention.  Understand, we are not complaining.  If we were, this would be a good time to do it.  As a matter of fact, this would be the normal time to do it.


     Joseph said something to his brothers that showed that he had always believed God's story and not the distorted story of fallen, broken man.  When they came before him to plead for their lives after their father had died, Joseph told them that even though they meant their actions for evil against him, God had meant those actions to do them good.  Let me say it again.  Through all of the slavery, being away from his family, the years in prison and all of the insults, he CHOSE to believe God's story.  He didn't know what the next chapter was but he knew the end.  It was going to be exactly what God had spoken to Abraham.


     We are tempted to look at our pain and our temporary inconvenience and wonder where God is in our suffering.  My wife, my daughter and I can see the same thing.  When I went out to take pictures of the scene of the accident in daylight, I came across the God story.  It still chills me as well as thrills me.  Had we not been in a van, and had we not hit him to stop the momentum of his runaway truck, he would have run into a culvert about 15-20 feet away.  This outlet is so deep that people commonly fish there.  It is possible that his vehicle could have fallen into that culvert and flipped over on him.  If that had happened, that young man would have gone out to meet Jesus totally unprepared.  Yet, he is alive and unscratched.


     We will get a replacement vehicle.  Our bodies will heal.  But, my friend you don't get a replacement life and Hell doesn't heal.  This young man is alive and God has more time to work on him.  Our prayer is that God will put someone in front of his life that he will listen to and turn his life to Jesus.


     In Matthew 4:19, He tells the guys, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  That's His story.  That's His story line through His three temptations in the wilderness a little earlier in that chapter.  It's not about His needs.  It's all about correcting the distorted story of fallen, broken man.  Let's pour ourselves into reading and hearing HIS story instead of whining about ours.  Let's follow His example and become fishers of men.