The Show

Life is a like theater. Sometimes it’s a comedy. Sometimes a tragedy. Often a drama. By virtue of our birth, we have been cast into our unique role. Your experience of the show depends a lot on how you think about God.


In William Young’s book, The Shack, Mack found himself struggling with his role in the show when the storyline took a horrible, unexpected twist: his six-and-a-half year old daughter was abducted, abused, killed, and her body was never recovered. He believed that God had acted poorly as the writer, director, and producer of his production. He was feeling swallowed up by this Great Sadness. He was angry at God. He wondered if God cared, or if God was caring at all. He found himself judging God for not being very good at being God. If God was in control, after all, he could have prevented Missy from such a horrible fate – he could have re-written the script.

We’ve all struggled at one time or another with Mack’s issue. Maybe we haven’t lost a child, but we have probably lost hope a time or two. I would suggest, in fact, that if we have never experienced heartache, we haven’t been paying attention to the drama that’s been unfolding since we drew our first breath. Sometimes life is very, very tough. How we view God’s role in our drama makes a huge difference regarding how well we like the show we’re in.

Some people have adopted a view that is about 500 years old. In this view, which was put forth as part of the Reformation, God is seen as completely sovereign over every detail of creation. Everything has been predestined to play out according to God’s plan. This is good news, if you subscribe to this view, because this perspective also believes that human beings are completely incapable of doing anything right. That’s why some are predestined to faith, grace, and heaven, and others are not – we humans simply cannot find God all by ourselves. If you, in times of duress, have ever said something like, “God must have a reason for this,” then you have a little bit of this theological perspective at work in your life. I want to warn you about this view. It is deadly. It can severely limit the quality of your life because it can severely limit your relationship with God. In this view, you are basically a pawn, a slave, and sometimes a victim of God. If you’ve felt this way, there is a better way to view your role and God’s role in the drama of life.

Another, opposite view of God’s sovereignty is that God is totally disconnected. One philosophical position views God as a great clock maker who, after making the clock and winding it up, took off. Once it winds down, he may be back. But he doesn’t really care what happens between now and then. This can also be a killjoy, because our view of life and God is pretty meaningless. Lonely. Nothing worth living for, really, and nobody who ultimately cares.

Mack discovered a different view of God’s role in the human drama that provided for a much better life experience, much more hope through the tough times, and a purpose worth pursuing. Through his interaction with God at the shack, Mack learned that God doesn’t violate the free will which humanity has been given, but certainly responds with grace as we make our choices for good or harm. All the while, God is weaving everything together to create beauty even out of the ugliest threads of history – a tapestry that only God can weave. And even though we have confidence that God is going to work everything out in the end, we have our role to play now that impacts the “when” of the “then”.

The God I know is a God who is fully aware of the role I play in this human drama. My decisions are my own, and the consequences are real. I have a choice to perform my role all by myself, with little or no help from God, even though he is an incredibly wise, insightful Director who can make me come alive in my role. I can try to pull off my show on my own resources with no help from God, who is a generous Producer with infinite contacts and connections and resources who can make my show a success. It is a choice.

Wisdom suggests that you and I take full advantage of this great Director and Producer if we want to experience all that life can be. The more we give ourselves to this relationship, the more we discover that God knows what God is doing, that God is good, and that God can redeem even the most tragic Acts and Scenes. Because the God of the Bible really is very good, and loves us dearly.

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power

that comes from God.

Think…

1. What does “God is in control” mean to you? Where’d you learn it?

2. How does your view of God’s sovereignty provide for or limit your relationship with God?

3. If you were Mack, what comfort came from his newfound perspective on God’s involvement with humanity? What difference does this make for you?