Why doesn't my life make sense - part 4

Acculturation -- cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture; also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact2 : the process by which a human being acquires the culture of a particular society from infancy.

Romans 12:2 -- Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

By the time the typical American turns thirty they have watched somewhere in the neighborhood of four and a half years of television. That's four and a half years straight, no sleep -- eyes held open with toothpicks. And most of that time was spent viewing stories told from the modern method of storytelling (intro, rising action, climax, falling action). Now, in our lives we experience more events each day than we could ever hope to remember. Our minds store away a small percentage of the more 'significant' details. The trick is you and your mental faculties have to decide what is, and what is not, significant. This means understanding your life as a story, because that's what a story is; it's a way describing certain events in order to accomplish a specific goal (entertain, explain a moral, etc.). This is why you don't usually watch the main characters go to bathroom or put on their makeup. You only see the scenes where they do something important to the telling of the story.

If you are like most Americans you likely determine 'significance' based on the modern mode of storytelling. You may even imagine your life as a kind of movie or television series. The problem is that in those movies the world revolves around the main character. Everything is constructed around bringing the main character to the climactic finish. The real world is nothing like this.

In the real world, God is the ultimate main character. He's the director, the producer, and the main character role was so difficult that he actually had to act it out himself (Jesus). This is His movie. Not yours and not mine. If you are trying to understand the events in your life in such a way that they lead to a climax centered around you then yes, your life will go through long periods where nothing seems to make sense.

The only truly climactic moment that our world will ever experience is written out in the book of Revelation. It is the moment of God's vindication. It is the moment when He is proved right and all challenges to Him and His glory fail for the final time. Now read carefully, because this is important. Revelation is not a history. It is not a chronological account of things that haven't happened yet. It's the climax of a story. It has no interest in telling you specific times and dates. Its primary interest is in presenting the main character's triumph over evil.

In the next series we will examine the seven trumpets. And we will see, in vague terms, when the world as we know it is going to end. At the same time we will see the challenges that our God overcomes, because that's what the trumpets are.