Preserved by Purpose: Jesus is the Main Character of My Life’s Story

“Who is the main character in your life’s story? Is it you or is it Jesus?” This question was posed to me by fellow author Michelle Stimpson as we drove 3 ½ hours to Houston to speak at a writing workshop a few years ago. We both agreed that we wanted Jesus to be the main character in our life stories. 

Days after our trip, I thought about the times in my life when I was the main character in my life’s story instead of Jesus. To me, it was good enough that Jesus was a character in the story. Like minor characters in great fiction stories, he got a few good lines every now and again. What did this look like? I was busy with church work but didn’t have a real relationship with God. I spent more time doing things for the church than working on developing an authentic, intimate relationship with God. 

  I found myself doing what so many other Christians do: settling for Jesus being in their life story but not necessarily the main character. We want to remain the main character so we can write the story, be the center of attention, and control what happens. However, if we let Jesus be the main character and God be the author of our story, we make the important choice to submit to the lordship of Jesus and submit to the sovereign hand of God. Hebrews 12:1-3 encourages us to let go of worries and burdens so that we can ”run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith….” 

When we let God write our life story, his hand guides and directs us in the path that he wants us to go. He may put a period and end something that we’d like to put a comma in and continue. Also, some life stories might require more revisions than others. We have to trust that even if something happens that we don’t expect or like, “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” as it says in Romans 8:28. 

 “If anyone should ever write my life story, for whatever reason there might be,
You’ll be there between each line of pain and glory, ‘Cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” These words from the 1974 classic soul hit by Gladys Knight and the Pips were turned into an equally popular gospel song by James Cleveland. 

The words of the gospel song remind us that when Jesus is the main character, he isn’t impacted by what we do, but he influences everything we do because we have built a sincere, intimate relationship with God. Our goal should be not just for anyone to write our life’s story, but for us to have the faith to allow God to write our story with Jesus at the center.

Shewanda Riley is the author of the Essence best-seller “Love Hangover: Moving from Pain to Purpose after a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: Prayers for Writers.” Follow her on Instagram @shewandawrites.