What Writing Has Taught Me About God

Writers are creators. We belong to the other world that calls to us, that seems to create itself. We "take people, put them on a journey, and find out who they really are." The everyday conflicts in our lives tell a story, and we pick up on that. Our characters are real, breathing human beings, and we want the best for them. Well, our protagonists, anyway. Plots are our tools for shaping them into better people, leaving them more the way we want them than when we first met them.

Backstory is so much fun. There we find the protagonist's reason for believing his Lie, the origin of his Wound and his Ghost, the reasons for what he does. The pain, the joy he experienced.

Conflict is what breathes life into our stories. Without it, there would be no story. Just flat retells of everyday life. Conflict, no matter how big or small, shapes our characters into someone they weren't before. The Climax is the most exciting part of the book, the part when your character finally comes face to face with the antagonist in a battle for the Truth (if his arc is a positive one). He chooses to believe the Truth, and is forever a changed man. All the conflict he went through earlier in the story finally makes sense, because it drove him to that final battle.

Endings are especially rewarding. At last we have our character in his New World, better than he was before, equipped with his newly-found truth. All is well.

No matter how we write our stories, whether we are more of a pantser or a planner, there will always be surprises. Plot holes appear, new twists come to mind, new details are added. They leave us tearing our hair and wondering, how will we make this work?

And how many of us have cut out a scene because it hasn't moved the plot forward, but instead took up space?

This is something I love about writing. I can be, in a sense, a partner with God, creating something. More than that, it points me to what God is, and isn't.

Like what we do to our characters, God puts us through trials to test us and shape us into the image He designed us to be, the image of Jesus. Nothing He puts us through is unimportant. Everything adds up. He stretches, bends, and twists us, making us let go of the Lie That We Believe and embrace His Truths. In that final battle against our own antagonistic, sinful nature, He always wins out and gives us the power to do so. In the end, we are closer to the image of Jesus than we were before.

As for surprises, there are none! God is the ultimate storyteller. He planned everything out perfectly, from the day we're born to the day we die. There are no plot holes, no twists, no details that leaves Him perplexed. Everything that happens is according to our will, and every scene in our lives is vital to shaping us to who we're made to be. Every moment counts.

That makes me want to relish every moment! And wonder, how will He use this moment later? To think that He has all things planned out from beginning to end, all the ins and outs, is mind-blowing. It is hard for me as a writer to plan my books in a way that uses no useless scenes or doesn't grow my characters properly. And there are always surprises. But God has everything planned out, with no surprises, and his purpose in each of our stories is to grow us and glorify himself. He surely does that!

Be assured, no matter what you face, your life is written by the Writer who knows all, and has everything planned for your journey toward the positive end. Why do we doubt? Why do we struggle and ask God, "Why are you doing this?" Don't our characters do the same to us? And what do we say to them? "It's for your good." Trust in the Author who works everything for your good. He will bring the victorious end to pass.