Parables: The Underlying Stories of Our Lives

(I must give a warning and say that this post may turn into a really long one! I hope you don't mind!)

I believe in the power of a good story. There's something about hearing someone tell a
story that always seems to grab my attention. That's why I love old people. They always seem to be full of experiences that they are dying to share with people. Even as a little kid, I remember being fascinated as I would sit down and listen to my grandfather tell stories of when he was in World War 2. Stories about him trying to go to sleep in a building over in Europe while bombs were exploding all around him in the city. Stories about my mom and her brother growing up when they were kids. Places they went. Things they saw. Lessons they learned. It's all fascinating to me!
I believe our stories and experiences are powerful because our lives mean something. And if you think about it, life isn't made up of minutes, days, or years. Life is made up of our experiences. It consists of the lessons we have learned, the struggles we have faced, and the victories we have won. Each of our lives are defined by the stories we tell. And we are always telling a story, whether we realize it or not. One day at a time. One moment at a time. And I often wonder if there is another story being told, underneath the surface of our everyday lives. Almost as if God is using our experiences to not only give us a story to tell this world, but using our lives to teach us about who He is and who He wants us to become. This thought will probably need some elaboration. I think I'll start by telling a story.......
So there I was. Sitting in a bus in the middle of a Walmart parking lot in the wonderful city of Grants Pass, Oregon. My band had played a show the previous night in Ashland and we had driven to this parking lot afterwards to spend the night before driving home the next day. I was feeling dizzy because I had an unpleasant meeting the previous night involving my hands, elbows, face, and some very unforgiving pavement. But as I was staring out the front window of our "tour bus", something instantly caught my attention. It was a homeless woman. She seemed very occupied with something that, in my opinion, was absolutely ridiculous. Using a shopping cart, she was transporting dirt from the outskirts of the parking lot to a metal trash can. Since the shopping cart had many holes in it's framework, most of the dirt ended up on the pavement by the time she got to the trash can. And, to be perfectly honest, I found this amusing, even funny. Me and the rest of my bandmates sat and watched this scene unfold for a while until it came time for us to hit the road. Feeling a little sorry for the woman and her situation, we thought we'd offer her some extra food we had left over from our breakfast/lunch we had just eaten. What happened next surprised all of us..............
As we were driving up to her in our bus, she instantly started to wave her finger and yell at us for some reason. "Do you want some donuts?", I asked, while standing near the front of the bus, door open and all. I wasn't able to finish my question. "Get out of here and don't come back!" was her reply. So I offered her the donuts again, much to no avail. "Get out of here and don't come back!" After a few more attempts, she ended up throwing an apple in the general direction of our bus! After that, we decided to give up and move on. We all couldn't help but laugh at what we just experienced as we drove off, still having some donuts that we wanted to give away to someone in need. Before pulling out onto the main road, we were able to give the donuts to a homeless man holding a cardboard sign at a four-way stop. "Thanks for not throwing apples at us!", one band member told the man as we drove away.
Needless to say, this whole experience provided much laughter the entire drive home. I know I personally didn't believe it to be anything more than one of those stories that you can't wait to tell everyone you know. Not because you believe it to be "meaningful", but because it would cause anyone to erupt into laughter for the craziness of the whole situation! A funny story, nothing more. But I was so wrong!
A few weeks later, I just had this random feeling that Jesus was trying to get my attention. And He was wanting to use that experience to teach me something about myself and my interaction with Him. And as I looked back on that moment in my mind, I didn't see a homeless woman pointlessly filling a shopping cart with dirt. I saw myself. And I didn't see a bunch of guys in a bus with some extra donuts. I saw God. The creator of the the universe. The very Reason for my existence. And I couldn't help but think about my life and who I've become. How often does God lovingly reach out to me, only to hear me say "get out of here and never come back!"? How many times does God offer his help when I'm in need, only to have me turn Him away? After all, I know He sees me for who I truly am. And I wonder what He sees when He looks at me, especially when I'm trying to live my life on my own terms. Am I just "shoveling dirt" while thinking I've got my life figured out? Looking back on my life, I can see countless times when I've been no different from that woman. It's crazy to think that I easily judged her, even laughed at her and her situation, especially when I see a lot of similarities between her and myself sometimes. Her situation is just easier to notice than mine is. But not for God. He knows me better than I know myself, and yet He loves me. And I find myself wondering if He is always trying to get my attention. To tell me that my life means something. To offer His grace and help me in my times of need. To remind me that I'm loved. Or maybe He's just wanting to tell me a story. The question must be though: am I listening? Because after all, a story is powerful, especially when it's told by God himself. No wonder Jesus used parables..................